ATG Profits Fall as Sweden’s Tax Hike Hits Horse Racing Hard

Financial Impact of the Swedish Tax Hike

The increased gambling tax has a negative impact, Skarplöth said. In my eyes, this is a horse tax as ATG accounts for around 40% of the state’s tax revenue from the gambling industry.

Net gaming revenue fell 2% year-on-year to SEK 5.2bn ($490m), while total group revenue declined 4% to SEK 6.0bn ($565m). Operating profit dropped 15% to SEK 1.5bn ($141m), with the operating margin narrowing to 26% from 29% a year earlier.

2025 was a weaker year in terms of results. The prolonged recession pressured revenues while the increased gambling tax raised our costs, said Lotta Nilsson, CFO of ATG.

Total costs, including gambling tax, amounted to SEK 4.4bn ($414m). Gambling tax alone reached SEK 1.3bn ($122m), up 7% year-on-year. The increase in Sweden’s gambling tax rate from 18% to 22% reduced ATG’s earnings by SEK 216m ($20m), the company said.

The Flow of Revenue Back to the Tracks

ATG also said more than SEK 2 billion (€183 million) went back to horses in 2025 and that, since 1974, the figure has reached almost SEK 60 billion (€5.5 billion).

Many winners. But the horses always win the most, the report says. ATG is not driven by any private profit interests, it adds, and all remaining profits go back to the horses.

Horse racing supports breeders, trainers, tracks, jobs, events and a living cultural heritage, argued former chief executive Hasse Lord Skarplöth, adding either we continue to pretend that all forms of gambling are equal, or we tax according to actual risk and benefit.

She also warned that lower revenues combined with higher gambling tax directly impact returns to owners and weaken funding for Swedish horse racing.

It is a development we view seriously, she added.