888 Holdings gets Swedish gambling licence

The licence has been granted for a five-year period and will be effective from when the new regulated Swedish regime begins on 1 January 2019. The company said on Thursday that it now holds licences in 11 jurisdictions.

Chief executive officer Itai Frieberger said: "Continued expansion in regulated markets is central to 888's growth strategy, so we are delighted to have been granted a licence in Sweden, ahead of the market's regulation coming into force in January 2019. Sweden is a significant online gaming market and we look forward to further developing our casino, sport and poker offerings for our Swedish customers, so they can enjoy our innovative gaming products responsibly

"Underpinned by our proprietary technology platform, marketing strength and CRM expertise, 888 has an outstanding track record of driving growth in newly regulated markets. During the first half of 2018, the vast majority of the group's revenues were generated in regulated and taxed markets. We expect this to further increase over the coming years, as more markets regulate online gaming and we continue to leverage our core capabilities to gain market share."

According to data from H2Gambling, the Swedish online gambling market is expected to reach €1.13bn this year.

At 1540 GMT, the shares were down 2.9% to 176.50p.