A ‘continued tough market situation’ has continued to dampen AB Trav och Galopp’s (ATG) performance throughout Q1, with redundancies and an internal restructuring forming part of its strategy to navigate external economic pressures.
Publishing its financial results for the three months ended 31 March 2026, the Swedish operator reported that top-line figures remained ‘on par with the previous year’ but an internal reorganisation was needed to streamline operations.
Total revenue during the period amounted to SEK 1.4bn (£111.9m), an increase just shy of 1% compared to the same period last year, while net gaming revenue just exceeded SEK 1.2bn.
A difficult quarter for sports betting
Casino appears to be the biggest driver of growth, with revenue growing by 20% during the period – although ATG caveated this by noting that this growth was ‘partly due to one-off events in 2025’.
The results read: “The growth in casino includes one-time effects in the comparison figures, but even taking that into account, there is growth.”
Its flagship horse racing division remained relatively stable during the period, despite an increase in international interest across the vertical. However, overall sports betting experienced an 11% decline.
“Horse betting is stable and still our largest gaming product. It is also the foundation of our business and the commitment to horse betting is strong, both externally and internally,” ATG continued.
“The sports product area had a weaker quarter, with net gaming revenue down around 11% year-on-year. This is mainly due to the outcome of sporting results, as this type of variation is not uncommon between quarters. At the same time, we see signs that we need to continue developing our offering to our customers.”
But despite the dampened performance, ATG still remains confident that it can continue to rebuild momentum in the latter half of the year.
Lotta Nilsson, Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer at ATG, said: “We are improving our results in a continued tough market situation.
“It is a statement of strength. At the same time, we are not satisfied with the development of revenue – it should increase, and we are acting to have an effect already during the year.”
Leadership reshuffles have had an impact
It was a rocky start to the year for ATG, not just in terms of revenue growth but also in terms of leadership changes.
Back in February, CEO Hans Lord Skarplöth stepped down after 13 years in the role.
Peter Norman was initially appointed acting CEO, although a few weeks later, Jörgen Forsberg, the CEO of Svensk Travsport, was named as the new acting CEO until a permanent replacement is hired. In that time, Nilsson also assumed the role of Vice President.
A complete reshuffle of leadership is a lot for any company to deal with. However, ATG was navigating these changes alongside managing an overall restructuring of the company which resulted in the company’s overall headcount shrinking.
Looking beyond Sweden
Despite the challenges facing the company, there are glimmers of new growth opportunities that lie ahead – although how many of these are within its home market of Sweden is yet to be seen.
As is evident from its Q1 results, it’s clear that the most significant long-term growth catalyst for ATG is the renewed focus on its international strategy.
Said to be ‘developing well’, ATG’s Danish operations reported a 13% in overall NGR, when reported in Swedish Kroner, during Q1 2026.
Similar to Sweden, this was mostly driven by casino (55%), followed by horse racing (27%) and then sports betting (18%).
However, ATG is also continuing to eye up new opportunities in Finland via its Hippos ATG subsidiary, as soon as regulation permits.
With the market currently preparing for licensing, with regulated operators expected to go live in 2027, expanding into Finland will provide a crucial new revenue stream for ATG to offset the challenges posed by the regulatory situation in Sweden’s mature market.
Beyond specific regional subsidiaries, ATG has also made it clear that it will be continuing to actively expand its international horse racing betting business throughout 2026. During Q1, this division reached SEK 817m – up 13% compared to the same period in 2025.
However, the strategy of expanding its international horse racing interest is very much reliant on the distribution of its proprietary racing content and betting pools to global partners.
The results concluded: “We have several challenges ahead of us, the biggest of which is creating growth in horse racing. At its core, ATG is something unique: a gaming company with a mission that extends beyond numbers and balance sheets. The values that horse betting holds.
“The community, the analysis and the presence in the experience itself provide direction in our mission: to create revenue for Swedish trotting and galloping sports. We do this by continuing to offer exciting games in a fair and smooth way.
“Our mission remains the same – we will be the horse industry’s engine and the gaming industry’s compass.”