Objectives and target fulfilment

Gaming represents enjoyment for adults, and thus Svenska Spel has an age limit for all games. The best that Svenska Spel can offer its customers is gaming enjoyment – it should be fun whether you win or lose.

Customers target area: 63% positive

Svenska Spel’s annual gaming survey highlights customer attitudes and behaviour. From 16 February to 21 April 2011, a major postal survey was conducted using randomly selected Swedes in the 16–75 group. The effective response frequency was 52%, with the number of completed questionnaires amounting to 5,131, representing a representative selection of the adult population. Among other things, this survey shows:

• 73% (74) are customers of Svenska Spel. The customer base consists of 50% men and 50% women. Men play more often and, generally, for higher stakes than women.
• The most common driving forces are the chance of gaining a major win and the excitement of playing.
• Triss, Lotto and Stryktipset remain the leaders in terms of positive image. The most negative image is associated with casinos, Internet gaming and Vegas.

According to Svenska Spel’s gaming surveys over the past six years, the player base has steadily narrowed while customers’ average age has increased. That the known gaming market nevertheless continued to grow during the same period was because certain customers spend more money on gaming than in the past.

In contrast to the overall gaming market, the number of customers on svenskaspel.se has largely increased while the average stake has decreased. This is a positive development in view of the fact that svenskaspel.se is tasked with channelling gaming from foreign sites.

Target fulfilment: Customers

The percentage positive to the Svenska Spel brand:
The target is 60% of the adult population; the result was 63% (64). (Source: Svenska Spel’s image tracking 2011).

Responsibility target area: Best responsible gaming

Svenska Spel seeks to strike a balance between gaming revenue and responsibility.

One example of Svenska Spel’s sense of responsibility is the outreach dialogues with frequent guests at the casinos, requirements in terms of maximum transfers to gaming accounts before a person can start playing on svenskaspel.se and the age limits for the purchase and payout of winnings on all games. Despite the expansion of the gaming market, Svenska Spel’s gaming survey and the study undertaken by Swedish National Institute of Public Health in 2010 show that the proportion of customers with problems remained unchanged during the past ten years, that is, 1–2%. However, there has been a redistribution in the sense that problems have increased particularly among young men in the 18–24 age group, while decreasing in other groups.

Sustainable development

For the fifth consecutive year, Svenska Spel is publishing its CSR Report in line with the principles for GRI (Global Reporting Initiative).

The report is prepared once annually as part of the annual report. Reporting refers to the 2011 calendar year and covers the Parent Company and subsidiaries. The previous report (CSR Report 2010) was published in April 2011.

Svenska Spel’s responsibility programmes are also described in the social responsibility report that the Swedish Ministry of Finance requests on an annual basis.

The CSR Report describes Svenska Spel’s work in the focus areas of:

• business ethics and security
• social responsibility and responsible gaming
• responsibility for employees
• economic responsibility
• environmental responsibility

Target fulfilment: Responsibility

Svenska Spel’s quarterly image surveys rank the Company as the leader among gaming companies in Sweden in the area of responsible gaming. More information about objectives and their fulfilment in the Responsibility target area is provided in the CSR Report.

Business-like approach target area

To fulfil Svenska Spel’s efficiency assignment, the Company proactively evaluates work processes in the organisation to gain higher efficiency and cost savings in the optimal manner. Another aim is to raise the quality of the decision-making base in an effort to offer management greater potential to set appropriate priorities

Target fulfilment: Business-like approach

The financial objectives governing the Company consist primarily of the results budget set by the Board ahead of the financial year. At the Board meeting after mid-year, a revision of the annual budget is presented in the form of a forecast extending to the end of the year.

	Goal			Goal fulfilment
SEK million	Budget	Forecast			Outcome
Net gaming revenue	9,718	9,598			9,687
Net sales from ­gaming operations, etc.	7,923	7,839			7,919
Employee expenses	–1,026	–1,016			–1,011
Other operating expenses	–2,041	–2,009			–1,968
Operating profit	4,856	4,814			4,940

 

Target area: Employees – high motivation

During 2011, the HR Staff unit improved the monitoring of employee motivation, which was previously done via annual employee surveys. Moreover, in 2011, three smaller quarterly surveys were conducted in order to provide operations with speedier linkage to changes in motivation and how work progresses in an effort to follow up and strengthen motivation.

Some fifty managers have undergone the executive training course initiated in 2010, which included change leadership. Casino Cosmopol followed up its successful internal "World-class Hospitality" programme, with advanced development as one of the ingredients for executives and employees.

At year-end 2011, the number of employees totalled 2,199 (2,263). Recalculated as the average number of employees during the year, the total was 1,774 (1,764). Distribution by gender was 57% men (56) and 43% women (44). Svenska Spel seeks variation in terms of gender and age, ethnic origin and competence, as diversity contributes to better results and, thus, a more business-like approach.

Pay is determined on the basis of working tasks, competency and performance. An annual salary review is made to analyse and identify any deviations from the adopted guidelines. Appropriate action plans are drawn up if the analysis points to the need for action measures. The annual employee dialogue evaluates performance, and a development and competency plan is prepared jointly by the employee and manager. The dialogue is followed up on a six-month basis.

The health level, defined as the percentage of employees who in the past 24 months had sickness absence of less than 3.5%, amounted to 70.0% (71.3). Sickness absence was 4.1% (3.8). During 2011, a health programme was conducted that gave priority to employees who competed in exercise teams.

Target fulfilment: Employees

ESI/Motivation index: Target of 85 on a scale of 100, result 86 (83).

Leadership index: Goal of 70 on a scale of 100, result 73 (70). (Source: Svenska Spel’s employee surveys 2011.)

The CSR Report features additional information under the section entitled Responsibility for employees.

Assessments for 2012

The key factors affecting Svenska Spel’s development potential during 2012 are deemed to be:

• Continuing growth in the overall gaming market.
• Stiffer competition with new gaming companies, constellations and consolidations. International cooperation is a strong trend.
• Continuing development of mobile-based gaming and customer dialogue via social media.
• Responsible gaming and customer care are becoming increasingly crucial for the brand.
• Nationwide accessibility is one of Svenska Spel’s major assets. The relationship with retailers and business partners shall continue to be fostered and developed, along with a focus on svenskaspel.se and mobile-based gaming.