ANNUAL REPORT 2013
Part 1 About Cherry
Part 2 Annual Report
Online gaming
operator of the year
2013 was an eventful year for Cherry. In addition
to our extensive investments in online gaming
we have also made several investments to create
the prospects for further expansion. The
trans-formation of 50-year old Cherry from a traditional
casino company to a modern growth company
with a strong focus on online gaming continues.
– Emil Sunvisson, CEO
3
Highlights in the past year
4
Report from the CEO
6
The market
8
Cherry’s vision and business areas
10
Online Gaming
12
Resturant Casino
14
Yggdrasil Gaming
16
Development project Klubblo
17
Cherry – history
20
The share
22
Executives and Board of Directors
23
Introduction
24
Administration report
30
The group
34
The parent company
38
Notes
60
Signatures
61
Auditors’ report
Cherry in brief
For over half a century Cherry has offered fun & excitement for millions of players.
And we intend to continue to do so when we meet the next generation of players,
both on our gaming tables and online. This is Cherry in 2013:
annual figures
best online gaming
operator of the year
Online Gaming grew in 2013 by 31
per cent and the number of active
customers increased by 56 per
cent. In February 2014
Internatio-nal Gaming Awards also appointed
Cherry Online Gaming Operator of
the Year
. Read more on page 10.
record year for
restaurant casino
Thanks to a strategy of
improve-ments and acquisitions, Cherry
increased its sales and succeeded
in achieving its best result ever
despite a shrinking market.
Read more on page 12.
the market
Cherry is active in different parts of the gaming market;
restaurant casino in Sweden, international online casino
and lottery, Swedish online lottery and online gaming
development. Read more about the markets on page 6.
Cherry is a market leader with its
60
%
share in restaurant casino with372
gaming tables.32
%
Cherry increased online gaming turnover in 2013 by
In 2013 Cherry invested in the games development company
Yggdrasil Gaming
andKlubblo
– a new Swedish sports lottery.development project
klubblo
Klubblo’s goal is to offer a national
online lottery to support Swedish
sports clubs. 30-40 per cent of net
gaming revenue will be directly
allocated to Swedish sports clubs.
Read more on page 16.
yggdrasil gaming
Yggdrasil is a new games
development company, founded
by the industry veteran Fredrik
Elmqvist, which offers a wide
range of lottery and casino
games for computers, mobiles
and tablets.
Read more on page 14.
The group, MSEK 2013 2012
Sales 266.3 231.5 EBITDA -24.0 11.8 EBIT -33.9 6.1 Profit per share -2.53 0.16 Liquid assets (MSEK) 68.4 59.0 Dividend per share* 4.00 11.20 Online gaming
Deposited amount
during period 260.1 165.9 Restaurant Casino
Market share 60.4 57.8 *Proposed dividend/redemption process (SEK) per share
KEY FIGURES SALES
Per quarter and business area (MSEK) 80,0 70,0 60,0 50,0 40,0 Q1 30,0 20,0 10,0 0,0 Q4 Q2 Q3 Online Gaming Restaurant Casino
Growth on
all fronts
2013 was an eventful year for Cherry.
In addition to our extensive investments
in online gaming we have also made
several investments to create the
foundation for further expansion. The
transformation of 50-year old Cherry from
a traditional casino company to a modern
growth company with a strong focus on
online gaming continues.
PART 1 REPORT FROM THE CEO
32
%
Online Gaming revenues increased by 32% and Restaurant Casino set a record both in terms of sales and profit.
266.3
msek
Group sales increased by 15 per cent and amounted to 266.3 MSEK (231.5).
DEAR SHAREHOLDERS,
Cherry is a company that invests, owns and develops
successful operations within gaming and casino. The
investments in Yggdrasil and Klubblo, including the
acquisition of Web Resorts, are in line with Cherry’s
strategy to create growth and shareholder value within
gaming and casino.
ONLINE GAMING CONTINUES TO HAVE STRONG GROWTH
2013 was a build-up year with major investments. We
have launched several new brands on our own platform,
which has been developed with the latest technology, and
which supports both mobiles and computers. We have
also built up an organisation to manage support and
pay-ments. The sale of the Automaten sites enabled us to pay
a very large dividend to our shareholders and at the same
time invest in marketing to build brand awareness.
The investments have given us the tools we need to
take the company to the next level. With games operating
on our own platform we have created new opportunities
to differentiate our offering, to increase control over
cus-tomers and products, and finally, but by no means least,
we have switched to a business model with significant
economies of scale.
During the fall, Cherry acquired 49 per cent of the
online gaming company Web Resorts. It is interesting
to add brands with alternative profiles and that appeal to
new players, and we believe the acquisition to be
finan-cially beneficial for Cherry, and we can contribute with
our competence within the Nordic markets.
We are also extremely proud to have been
appoint-ed Online Gaming Operator of the Year by International
Gaming Awards.
In 2014 we will continue to invest in growth in
Online Gaming. Our ambition is to increase sales to a
much higher level than today.
IMPRESSIVE RESTAURANT CASINO
Restaurant Casino ended the year impressively with new
records in both sales and profits – despite the fact that we
are operating in a shrinking market. Our previous
acqui-sitions have strengthened our position and contributed
to further economies of scale in our activities. It is also
very satisfying that our long-term efforts to continuously
improve quality, service and modernising our payment
solutions have paid off.
Operations are very stable, well functioning, and the
profitability is satisfactory. At the present time we have
60 per cent of the market, and hope to be able to even
further increase market shares in 2014 – both organically
and through acquisitions. We will also continue to develop
our concept by offering more and easier payment options
to our customers.
A NEW GAMING COMPANY EMERGES
Lotto7, keno and video scratch are completely unique
on the market. Online casino, poker and sports gaming
are highly exposed to competition. In the lottery market,
however, we can see significant opportunities for strong
growth and a clear trend of conversion from physical to
digital lotteries.
The market for online slot machines is larger than the
lottery market, but is also more exposed to competition.
With the launch of its latest slots, Yggdrasil Gaming has
achieved a commercial breakthrough and proved that
they also can deliver slot machines of absolute top class.
Several of the leading Nordic operators have already
signed agreements, and there are others in the queue.
We are so far very pleased with our investment in
Yggdra-sil Gaming and impressed with the innovative gaming
portfolio they have produced in a short time.
KLUBBLO IS READY TO GO
Klubblo is a co-operation between Swedish sports, Metro
and Cherry. The ambition is that Klubblo will become an
alternative source of financing for Swedish sports clubs.
The reception from the sports associations has exceeded
expectations and we are looking forward to the launch
of Klubblo.
THE FUTURE
2014 is an important year for Cherry. We are going to
show that Online Gaming can continue to grow and
earn money. Together with our partners, Idrottsalliansen
and Metro, we hope to launch the new product Klubblo
on the market. We are also going to establish Yggdrasil
Gaming as a leading supplier of quality online gaming.
We believe that the reregulation of several European
markets will impose new requirements on operators. We
look forward to a regulation that permits gaming on fair
conditions for both operators and players. The
reregula-tion will open new opportunities for those who can best
adapt to the new gaming rules.
I am convinced that Cherry has both the competence
and the motivation required to succeed in a rapidly
changing market, and we are well equipped to manage
the different rules and regulations in different markets.
I am pleased and grateful to be entrusted to develop
We are extremely proud to have been
appointed Online Gaming Operator
of the Year by International Gaming
Awards. In 2014 we will continue to
invest in growth in Online Gaming.
PART 1 MARKET
INTERNATIONAL ONLINE CASINO
The market for online casino has experienced very strong
growth in recent years, which has been enabled by
tech-nical developments driving the transition from physical
casino to online casino. Future growth will be driven by
increased gaming from mobile units, new regulations
and better payment methods.
The main part of Cherry’s earnings in online gaming
today comes from the Nordic countries, where gaming is
offered under Maltese licence.
In Sweden, Norway and Finland there is still in
theory a monopoly in casino. In practice the markets are
exposed to fierce competition. The largest private
play-ers are Unibet and Betsson. Most playplay-ers who market
themselves in online casino in the Nordic countries do
so via a licence in another EU country under the
frame-work for the free movement of products and services
within the EU.
More and more countries have, however, begun
to open up the gaming market for private players by
issuing local licences for the purpose of controlling the
gaming and also to create much longed for tax revenues.
Cherry, for example, has a local licence in the German
federal state Schleswig-Holstein for online casino. The
shift from international to local regulation is expected to
reduce the operators margins, but increase the volumes
of gaming and reduce the legal risk in these operations.
Despite the legal situation, the Nordic markets have
a long history of online gaming and should now be
considered to be relatively mature markets. In 2012 the
Swedish online casino market was estimated to 106
million euro (approx. 1 billion SEK) by H2 Gambling
Capital. The market in Sweden is expected to grow at
a somewhat slower rate than in the rest of Europe and
Cherry estimates that it in the Nordic countries will
continue to grow by about 5-10 per cent a year.
The EU Commission has taken further steps in an
in-fringement procedure whereby Sweden and Norway are
in conflict with EU laws. Cherry estimates that this will
accelerate a reregulation of the Swedish and Norwegian
markets.
The European online gaming market is estimated
by H2 Gambling Capital to 13 billion euro (approx. 117
billion SEK) for 2013, of which the casino part accounts
for about 3 billion euro (approx. 28 billion SEK). The
market is expected to grow by around 10 per cent a year
in the next few years. Mobile gaming was estimated in
2012 to about 15 per cent of the total online gaming in
the world and is estimated to reach 30 per cent in 2015.
At the same time it is important to note that
current-ly oncurrent-ly 20 per cent of the total gaming market in the
world consists of online gaming and that the remainder
continues to take place via physical stores, slot machines
and casinos (Redeye).
Market in
change
Cherry is active in different parts of the gaming
market; restaurant casino in Sweden,
inter-national online casino and lottery, Swedish
online lottery and gaming development.
30
%
Of the total gaming market in the world, online gaming is predicted to reach 30% in 2015.
€
3,000
m
is the estimate for the European online casino market by H2 Gambling Capital 2013.
Europe accounts for about 45 per cent of the total
online gaming market in the world.
INTERNATIONAL ONLINE LOTTERIES
The market for lotteries can be divided into physical
lotter-ies and online lotterlotter-ies. Online lotterlotter-ies can then be divided
into nationally and internationally regulated lotteries.
Cherry estimates that over 90 per cent of the lottery
market continues to take place through physical sale
of lottery tickets. Conversion to online
has been relatively slow. The growth in
physical lotteries in the Nordic countries
is very limited, while online is
grow-ing rapidly. Cherry is only active in the
online lottery market.
The global market for lotteries (such
as lotto, lottery, scratch lotteries and
keno) is dominated by the old gaming
monopolies. Lotteries represent about
9 per cent of the total online gaming
market, in comparison for example
with casino at 22 per cent. Among the
private players lotteries still continue to
be a relatively small product area. Tipp24 is the market
leader today, but several large operators have begun to
offer online lotteries.
THE MARKET FOR NATIONALLY REGULATED LOTTERIES IN SWEDEN
In addition to Svenska Spel, non-profit associations have
the opportunity to apply for licences to sell lottery
tick-ets. Examples of lotteries run by non-profit associations
include Postkodlotteriet, Bingolotto and Miljonlotteriet.
Idrottsalliansen is the non-profit association that will
re-ceive a licence for the Klubblo lottery.
According to Svenska Spel, the market share of the
non-profit lotteries amounts to 17 per cent of the total
gaming market in Sweden and comprises a total of SEK
3.4 billion in net gaming revenue. The total net gaming
revenue decreased by just over one per cent from 2011
to 2012. The remaining parts of the market in Sweden
consist to 68 per cent of Svenska Spel and ATG, 14 per
cent of foreign online players and one per cent of
restau-rant casino.
SVEA is a system of 50 million SEK (which
corre-sponds to approx. 0.3 per cent of Svenska Spel’s
turno-ver) that Svenska Spel distributes every year to support
Swedish youth sports. The system is based on players
selecting up to three support associations. Every SEK
played then gives a point, which is added up and
deter-mines how much different associations are allocated.
Klubblo will function more or less the same, with the
critical difference that Klubblo is a sports lottery where
the whole surplus goes to Swedish sports in the form
of Idrottsalliansen and the associations that the players
have chosen to support.
THE MARKET FOR ONLINE GAMING DEVELOPERS
Online casino operators usually purchase the games
games. IGT and Bally are examples of traditional
manu-facturers of physical slot machines, but which are now
to an increasing degree investing in the development of
games for the online market.
Normally the agreements between operators and
games developers are based on a revenue share. The
market for games developers therefore in principle
fol-lows the market for gaming operators. Cherry estimates
that the market for games developers in online casino
in 2013 was about 300 million euro in
Europe and that it will grow by about 10
per cent a year in the next few years.
Games developers rely on the
de-velopment of good games that will be
appreciated by the end customers.
There is a very big difference between
the games that generate most revenue
and low revenue generating games.
The lifespan of individual games also
varies a lot. Games normally bring in
most money during the first months
after their launch. The operators
fol-low the game performance
careful-ly to be able to offer each customer segment the most
popular games at any time. They often have several
games suppliers to provide for the largest possible spread
of customers.
Some games developers do not have their own
distribution and licence and offer their games via third
party suppliers, which can mean lower margins and less
flexibility.
THE RESTAURANT CASINO MARKET
The Swedish restaurant casino market is regulated and
Cherry operates under licences from the Swedish
Gam-bling Authority. The restaurant casino market accounts
for about one per cent of the total gaming market in
Sweden.
Cherry operates exclusively on the Swedish market,
which today consists of some fifty operators of various
sizes who mainly offer Black Jack. Cherry is by far the
largest operator, with about 60 per cent of the market.
There are no other large operators. The largest of the
small operators are JPC Casino, Bonik and Betman,
each with around 20 venues compared with Cherry’s
270 venues.
Market growth for restaurant casino is negative. The
number of venues has reduced by about 40 per cent in
the last 10 years. This reduction is partly a result of more
competition from the state-owned Casino Cosmopol,
which can offer international rules with high stakes,
and partly a result of competition from private online
operators. Another contributory reason for the
reduc-tion is that the maximum allowed stakes have not been
increased. A motion in the Swedish parliament
(Riks-dagen) in 2013 called for an increase of the maximum
stake to SEK 200 from the SEK 70 allowed today. The
motion was rejected in anticipation of the postponed
The European online
gaming market is
estimated by
H2 Gambling Capital
to 13 billion euro
for 2013
The Cherry family
Fun & excitement, responsibility and commitment are Cherry’s core values.
Together they create the fundament for the continuation of our journey ahead.
Q1-Q4 in brief
Q1
Q2
Cherry received a licence in the German federal state Schleswig-Holstein for online casino.
PART 1 CHERRY’S VISION AND BUSINESS AREAS
Online Gaming
Cherry offers online gaming on the sites CherryCasino.
com, EuroSlots.com, SpilleAutomater.com, EuroLotto.
com, NorgesSpill.com and NordicSlots.com via
subsid-iaries in Malta and Curaçao (B2C).
Cherry is licenced in Malta and offers gaming in
Europe within the framework for the free movement of
products and services within the EU. Cherry also has a
licence in the German federal state Schleswig-Holstein.
Cherry cooperates with the leading gaming suppliers
Net Entertainment, Yggdrasil Gaming, Microgaming,
Amaya and Betsoft. Marketing is partly done via
tradi-tional channels such as television, radio and
newspa-pers, partly through digital marketing and search word
optimisation, and partly through marketing partners via
CherryAffiliates.com.
Restaurant Casino
The Swedish restaurant casino market is regulated
and Cherry operates under licences from the Swedish
Gambling Authority. Restaurant Casino accounts for
one per cent of the total Swedish gaming market and
Cherry is the market leader in Sweden with a 60 per cent
share according to statistics from the Gambling
Author-ity. Cherry offers traditional casino gaming (Blackjack
and Roulette) at 257 Swedish restaurants, night clubs
and hotels.
The business model involves a revenue share with the
venue owner, where Cherry is responsible to provide
per-sonnel, casino tables, training, follow-up and payment
solutions.
Cherry also offers Event Casino to companies and
pri-vate persons. Cherry has some 650 employees in
Restau-rant Casino, but most are part time croupiers and
con-verted to full time positions the number of employees
amounts to about 140 persons.
Cherry sold AutomatGruppen for 286 MSEK.
CherryCasino.com was acquired.
Yggdrasil Gaming received a gaming licence in Malta and signed an agreement with its first customer.
Cherry launched SpilleAutomater.com
Cherry paid 143.4 MSEK in dividend via a redemption program.
143.4
msek+286
msekRestaurant Casino achieved for the first time a market share of over 60%.
Development projects
Cherry has several development
pro-jects managed within the group to
create new services and products that
support Cherry’s business concept,
expansion and development strategy.
Yggdrasil Gaming
The gaming company Yggdrasil, with
head office in Malta, develops games
for computers, mobiles and tablets.
Yggdrasil has licences in both Malta
and Curaçao and sells its products to
different gaming operators in Europe
and Asia.
The business model is based on
revenue share with gaming operators,
start-up fees for new customers and
fees for customisations and bespoke
development.
The company employs directly and
indirectly over 20 persons within
devel-opment, games design and production.
The gaming portfolio at the
year-end consisted of 4 video Keno games,
7 video scratch cards, 3 classical scratch
cards, Lotto7 with live draws and
Lot-to7 Express with instant draws, and
2 video slots. The reception from the
market by both operators and players
has so far exceeded expectations. Up to
March 2014 six agreements have been
signed with Unibet, MrGreen,
Vera&-John, LeoVegas, Videoslots and Cherry.
Development project – Klubblo
Klubblo is a new Swedish lottery. The lottery will be
operating under a Swedish lottery license where Idrotts-
alliansen has applied to be the license holder and the
lottery will initially be sold via mobiles and computers.
Klubblo will operate in the market for nationally regulated
lotteries in Sweden.
As the player is allowed to choose which sports clubs
to support, the lottery is given credibility and justification.
The media group Metro and Cherry are together
respon-sible for development, management and marketing of
the lottery through the jointly owned company Svenska
Klubbspel AB.
Potential beneficiaries via their specialist sports
associ-ations are, in addition to Idrottsalliansen, all of Sweden’s
over 20,000 sports associations.
The lottery is expected to open during the first half
of 2014.
VISION
Cherry shall offer the best
environment to develop companies
within gaming and casino.
OVERALL STRATEGY
Cherry shall create shareholder
value by investing, owning and
developing companies within
gaming and casino.
Cherry’s core values shall permeate
all activities: Fun & Excitement,
Responsibility and Commitment.
FINANCIAL OBJECTIVES
The following overall objectives should
be a guiding principle for group
activi-ties activiactivi-ties, seen over a business cycle:
` Sales in the business area Online
Gaming should grow faster than
the market.
` Restaurant Casino should retain or
increase its market share.
` The growth rate of profits should
exceed 10 per cent a year.
` The equity ratio should amount to
at least 30 per cent.
` Dividends should be issued with
50 per cent of net profit.
CORE VALUES
Fun & Excitement
The fun & excitement we offer is the
fundament for all Cherry’s activities.
Responsibility
Cherry takes responsibility – for our
customers, partners and employees.
Cherry has for over 50 years been
the safe, reliable and established
alternative.
Commitment
In Cherry we have a passion for
gaming. We do everything to offer
the best service and the highest
quality. We love going the extra mile
to get the most satisfied customers.
Q3
Q4
Yggdrasil Gaming went live with its first customer. Klubblo – the Swedish sports lottery,
was announced in cooperation with Idrottsalliansen and Metro.
Cherry signed agreements with several high profile gaming venues, such as Etage and Crown Nightclub, Göta Källare &
Cherry acquired 49% of the shares in the online gaming company Web Resorts, which operates the brands NordicSlots.com and NorgesSpill.com.
Update of mobile sites for CherryCasino.com, EuroSlots.com and SpilleAutomater.com.
Cherry has been awarded the prize Online Gaming Operator of the Year (February 2014) by
PART 1 ONLINE GAMING
– We see the award as proof that our investments have
been successful, comments Marius Andersen, COO for
Cherry Malta.
Cherry has put a lot of work into creating its own
platform, support department and payment solutions
– with gaming licences in both Malta and Schleswig-
Holstein.
– It has involved a united effort to build everything from
the bare foundation, but now we have a powerful and
modern base to expand from that matches the very best
in the industry.
A YEAR OF LAUNCHES AND ACQUISITIONS
Cherry expanded far more rapidly than the market in
2013, thanks to the launch of new products and strategic
acquisitions.
– Early on in the year we bought back CherryCasino.
com from Betsson in conjunction with the sale of
Au-tomaten brands to Betsson for SEK 286 million. We
remodelled the site to a classic, strict online casino,
where we put a lot of emphasis on Cherry’s history and
our unique position in the industry.
In June 2013 Cherry launched the new site Spille-
Automater.com, with a strong focus on slot machines.
With offers such as a 100 per cent satisfied customer
guarantee, personal VIP service and cooperation with
local sports teams and associations, SpilleAutomater.
com is a competitive challenger.
Later on in November Cherry acquired 49 per cent of
the company Web Resorts, which markets games on the
sites NordicSlots.com and NorgesSpill.com.
– Web Resorts works with a different offering with
a very generous bonus policy, which makes them a good
complement to our existing offering. Our extensive
com-The online gaming
operator of the year is
expanding rapidly
Cherry continues to expand rapidly in online gaming. In 2013 the turnover
increased by 32 per cent and the number of active customers increased by a
full 56 per cent. To add the finishing touch Cherry was appointed Online
petence on the local markets in the Nordic
countries will contribute towards
reinforc-ing their already strong profitability.
All Cherry’s products have also
under-gone substantial face lifts and migrated to
our own modern gaming platform, with
support for mobiles and tablets.
LOCAL REGULATIONS CREATE CHALLENGES – AND OPPORTUNITIES
A change is underway in the European
gaming market. An increasing number
of countries in the EU are introducing
local rules and regulations in line with
legislation from Brussels.
– This creates interesting
opportuni-ties, but also poses a challenge for
gam-ing operators to comply with the specific
regulations that apply in each individual
market.
Cherry will therefore be facing the
choice on several markets of whether
to apply for local gaming licences, or to
block users from these regions.
ulations in the gaming markets, not least
in view of pressure from the EU.
EVEN BETTER GAMING EXPERIENCES
2013 has been a build-up year. In 2014
Cherry will be focusing on growth,
espe-cially in the core markets in the Nordic
countries and Germany.
– We will be working even harder with
our product offering to make it the most
attractive in the industry, and to ensure
Cherry was appointed Online Gaming Operator of the Year in competition with inter-national finalists such as Betsson, Mr. Green and Paddy Power.
CHERRYCASINO.COM
A classic online casino started by Cherry in 2000. Here you experience a glamorous, exciting and above all enter-taining gaming experience.
EUROSLOTS.COM
The best European slot machines online. Built on our own platform, with support for seven different languages with European themes.
SPILLEAUTOMATER.COM
Started in the spring of 2013 with focus on slot machines. In cooperation with sports teams and associations you get a local gaming experience with personal VIP service and 100 per cent satisfied custom-er guarantee.
EUROLOTTO.COM
Europe’s largest daily lottery draw with a mega jackpot of at least 25 million euro. With EuroLotto we take up the fight with the state monopolies to offer the best Lotto product.
NORDICSLOTS.COM
Targets mainly the Nordic market and has the objective of providing players with the best value for money through generous bonuses.
NORGESSPILL.COM
Strives to provide players with the most user-friendly and secure gaming experience in
Cherry expanded far more
rapidly than the market,
thanks to the launch of
new brands and products,
and with the help of
strategic acquisitions.
56
%
Active customers increased by 56%, of which 164.782 were new customers, corresponding to an increase of 74%.
32
%
Sales in Online Gaming grew by 32%. Deposits increased by 57%.
marius andersen coo cherry malta ltd
PART 1 RESTAURANT CASINO
372
Cherry runs games on 372 gaming tables. 36 new agreements were signed in 2013 and there are now 257 venues.
60
%
Cherry is market leader in Sweden with a market share of 60%.
Restaurant
Casino sets
new record
Thanks to strategic work in 2013 Cherry
increased its sales and succeeded in
achieving its best result ever and reached a
market share of over 60 per cent.
With over 50 years in the industry, Cherry now has
unique competence to operate Restaurant Casino in
Sweden – all the way from Ystad in the south to Kiruna
in the north.
– It is satisfying that our long-term work with
quali-ty and service have paid off. We are a small, tightly knit
organisation with a long history that knows what needs
to be done, says Aron Moberg-Egfors, Sales Manager for
Restaurant Casino.
One of the secrets for success has been to achieve
and maintain a high level of competence and training
for the croupiers. Better training of croupiers has helped
increase the profit margin from an already a high level.
Aron Moberg-Egfors points out that relations with
employees are important for the seriousness in the
res-taurant casino industry. For example, Cherry is the only
casino company in Sweden that is a member of the
employers’ organisation Visita.
– Our employees are our single most important asset,
they are our ambassadors to partners and customers.
MORE AND BETTER VENUES
By scaling down operations at places where profitability
has been non-satisfactory, Cherry has been able to focus
on venues with higher levels of activity. And thanks to
a series of strategic acquisitions Cherry’s market share
has continued to grow.
– The integration of Göteborgs Casino and City- and
Snättringe Casino has gone very smoothly. These
ven-ues have already become a natural part of Cherry and
contribute to our profitability.
Cherry also continues to reinforce its market shares
by establishing operations at even more pubs,
restau-rants and night clubs.
– During 2013 we saw a newly awakened interest for
casino and signed agreements with 36 new venues.
BETTER PAYMENT SOLUTION
Cherry has worked with the planning and preparation
of the next generation’s payment terminals, which were
rolled out in the beginning of 2014. The new
termi-nals are faster, more secure, and permit new payment
methods.
– The new payment solution gives us access to
bet-ter feedback and more follow-up opportunities, which
will lead to an increase in profitability, efficiency – and
results.
MORE ROOM FOR GROWTH
Cherry has taken ever larger shares of the Swedish
market. But Aron Moberg-Egfors still sees that there is
room for expansion, primarily organic, by perhaps also
through additional acquisitions.
– We will continue to work with the goal of increasing
profitability at existing venues and working pubs,
restau-rants and night clubs.
It is satisfying that our long-term
work with quality and service have
paid off. We are a small, closely-knit
organisation with a long history that
knows what needs to be done.
Casino gaming at night clubs
Cherry’s market share increased and amoun-ted to 60 per cent of the active gaming ta-bles according to statistics from the Gaming Authority of Sweden for December 2013. Cherry had at the end of the year gaming at 257 venues with a total of 372 tables. 36 new agreements were signed in 2013, while 15 venues were closed as a result of unprofitability, conceptual changes, loss of alcohol licences or bankruptcy. Seven ve-nues were also closed for the season during the year.
Cherry experienced a positive trend in restaurant casino with an increased market share for 2013. Agreements were signed with venues such as the Etage group, which runs Etage and Crown Nightclub in Malmö, and Sweden Rock Festival in Malmö. Profile venues such as Göta Källare, Marquise Nightclub, Slaktis and Pitchers were added in Stockholm In the north of Sweden agre-ements were signed with Allstar in Luleå and Boden, E-Street in Sundsvall and Le Sport in Östersund.
aron moberg-egfors sales manager restaurant Casino
PART 1 YGGDRASIL GAMING
Yggdrasil’s business model is to develop and operate
lot-tery and casino games from its own game server. The
server is integrated with the gaming operators’ systems,
who make the games available for their customers. The
revenues are then split between the gaming operators
and Yggdrasil according to industrial praxis.
The most important targets for Yggdrasil are large
operators who already market a wide range of games,
but often lack competitive lottery and number games.
Several of the leading Nordic operators – Unibet, Vera &
John, LeoVegas Mr Green, VideoSlots and Cherry – have
already signed agreements, and more are queuing up.
– We are convinced that the private operators will
challenge the monopolies also within the lottery
verti-cal in the same way as they have done in other vertiverti-cals
of gaming,” says Fredrik Elmqvist, CEO for Yggdrasil,
who has solid experience in the industry, also from Net
Entertainment.
NOT JUST LOTTERY GAMING
Yggdrasil’s games portfolio consists of a series of
inno-vative lottery games, including Video Scratch (scratch
lotteries with expanded game mechanics), Video Keno
(classical numbers game in modern format), Lotto7
Express (lotto with instant draws – play when in the
mood), and the big jackpot lottery Lotto7 with its own
daily draws from Malta.
World class gaming
experiences
Yggdrasil Gaming is a new games development
company, founded by the industry veteran Fredrik
Elmqvist. The company offers a wide range of
lottery and casino games for computers, mobiles
and tablets.
The private sector will challenge
the monopolies within the lottery
vertical in the same way as they
have done in other verticals
With the launch of the latest games,
the video slots Jokerizer, Winterberries
and Robotnik, and presentations of
fu-ture games road map at the big ICE
exhi-bition in London, the company has made
a commercial breakthrough and
demon-strated that they can also deliver slots of
absolutely top class.
– Our slots have already become a
success, despite the fact that they were
only started in the third quarter of 2013
and that the portfolio still is limited. But
we have solid competence in slots and
are well on our way to building up an
interesting portfolio in this area.
THE TECHNOLOGY IS IMPORTANT
Yggdrasil has worked hard to create a
uniform gaming experience, so that as a
player you will always get a familiar
expe-rience, regardless of which game or
plat-form you chose to play on.
– Regardless of whether you play
Win-terberries on your iPad or Precious
Anu-But it is not enough to catch the interest
of customers, it is also about the
resourc-es the operators have for the integration
and licensing process. It is therefore
im-portant that the integration of Yggdrasil’s
products can be done as easily and
pain-lessly as possible.
– To simplify our integration we have
developed a so-called ”Wallet Adapter”,
which solves the payment integration in
a simple way and minimises the strain on
operators.
WELL EQUIPPED FOR THE FUTURE
Yggdrasil will continue to roll out its
product portfolio in 2014 to even more
partners.
– We are well equipped to add more large
operators, which create a dynamic
coop-eration and set relevant demands that
drive us forward.
– If we can attract even more players and
operators we will continuously improve
our product and our offering, which will
YGGDRASIL
Head office: Malta Subcontractors:
Poland, Serbia, Sweden
Established: Q4 2012 Gaming licence received:
Q2 2013
Commercial launch:
Q3/Q4 2013
Main market: Europe Secondary market: Asia Currency support: GBP, SEK,
NOK, EUR, USD, THB, JPY
Language support:
English, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, German, Dutch, Italian, French, Turkish, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese
GAMING PORTFOLIO
Video Slots Jokerizer Winterberries Robotnik Video ScratchKing for a Day
Precious little Diamond Holiday Cash A Cool Million Sabbatical Piggy Bank Scary Money Classic Scratch Lucky Triple Silver Dollars Gold Bars Video Keno Precious Anuran Beaming Canine Medusa Eyes of Fire Siamese Serpents
Video Lotto
Lotto Express Lotto Live Draw
The private sector will challenge
the monopolies within the lottery
vertical in the same way as they
have done in other verticals
fredrik elmqvist ceo yggdrasil
PART 1 KLUBBLO
Swedish sports have found it
increasing-ly difficult to finance their activities with
membership fees and traditional
lotter-ies. Klubblo wants to offer a new modern
option as the only lottery only focusing
on sports and developed in cooperation
with the sports organisations.
Supporters of sports clubs are offered
gaming and lottery products where the
entire surplus goes to the sports clubs.
The lottery will be managed under a
Swedish lottery licence, whereby Idrotts-
alliansen has applied to be the licence
holder. Lotteries will initially be sold via
mobiles and computers.
– We want to help the clubs to meet
their supporters and convert their
commitment to financial support, says
Lasse Dilschmann, CEO of Svenska
Klubbspel AB.
– We want Klubblo to become the most
important sponsor for Swedish sports,
and that Swedish sports associations to
realise that our product is both better and
easier than selling salami sausages or
scented candles. It’s smarter, more fun,
and the clubs can spend more time on
training and sports and less time on
ad-ministration and sales.
Cherry and the media group Metro
share responsibility for the development,
operation and marketing of the lottery
through the jointly owned company
Svenska Klubbspel AB.
Potential beneficiaries are all the
Swed-ish sports clubs affiliated to the SwedSwed-ish
Sports Confederation.
–
This is the first time that the
Swedish sports clubs can have its own
modern lottery product, where they can
easily market themselves to their fans
with their own brands. Since all
distribu-tion is done online, it makes it easier for
unions to administer. They can focus on
what they do best: sports.
IDROTTSALLIANSEN
Non-profit association open to all special sports asso-ciations affiliated with the Swedish Sports Confedera-tion. To date it consists of 25 special sports associations covering 3,737 associations with 847,212 members in addition to AIK, HIF and DIF main associations.
KLUBBLO
Gaming and lotteries via computers and mobiles. The players choose their favou-rite clubs, which receives money for each lottery ticket purchased. Klubblo handles all administration.
ALLOCATION OF STAKES
50% of all stakes in the lot-tery go back to to the players in the form of prizes.
30-40% of the game win goes directly to Swedish sports.
…our product is both better
and easier than selling salami
sausages or scented candles
Sweden’s sports lottery
Klubblo, which is soon ready for launch, will give Sweden’s non-profit sports
associations and clubs a completely new opportunity to finance their activities.
Cherry, Metro and Idrottsalliansen want to make Klubblo the most important
sponsor for Swedish sports.
PART 1 CHERRY’S HISTORY
Cherry’s history
creates our future
The company that still prides itself in the stylised cherries is a completely
different company to the one started 50 years ago. But the emphasis is still
the same, to offer fun & excitement in a very responsible way.
…our product is both better
and easier than selling salami
sausages or scented candles
PART 1 CHERRY’S HISTORY
It all began one evening in December 1963
AB Restaurang Rouletter was founded by Bill Lindwall
and Rolf Lundström on Lucia Day, December 13, 1963. It
was the start of the company that today, 50 years later, is
called Cherry.
Lots of students worked on the side as croupiers. Two
of these students, Per Hamberg and Lars Kling, were
keen on starting a company and trying their own luck.
The two companies were competitors for a few years,
but in 1968 they decided to join forces. Cherryföretagen
AB was launched in 1972 with the name and now iconic
cherries that began to be used as the logotype.
The slot machine era
In 1973 slot machines were permitted by law in Sweden.
Cherry was much better prepared than its competitors
and in a short space of time took over half of the slot
machine market in Sweden.
Cherry became a nationwide company, with offices
in Solna, Göteborg, Umeå and Malmö. The 70s were a
fantastic success for Cherry, but at the same time there
was a lot of hard work to keep competitors at bay.
Gaming on boats – and outside Sweden
Cherry began to widen operations beyond the borders of
Sweden, with organised branches in the UK, Norway and
Denmark. Several Eastern European countries were ideal
for the launch of slot machines on a broad front.
Successful operations were developed in former
Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union and Poland.
There were other business opportunities in another
international arena, namely the ferries sailing in
inter-national waters. Slot machines were in fact permitted on
most of these. The Maritime business grew quickly in
Sweden, and also spread with the wind to the
Mediterra-nean and the British channel.
Restaurant Casino – the stable base
To one side of business operations with slot machines,
international ventures and maritime gaming, Restaurant
Casino has always existed as a secure and stable base.
After over 50 years Cherry is now stronger than
ever and has a full 60 per cent of the Swedish market.
Cherry continues to grow by taking venues from
compet-itors and through acquisitions.
Despite the fact that times have changed and the
competition from many forms of gaming has increased,
Cherry Restaurant Casino is today bigger and more
profitable than ever before.
Internet emerges
Cherry formed a strategy for online gaming
experienc-es in 1997. Cherry’s invexperienc-estment in CherryCasino.com
needed a few difficult years before it bore fruit and
be-came profitable.
The company Net Entertainment was started as a
development project in Cherry to meet the demand for
slot machines on the Internet. It landed on its feet and
quickly began expanding through favourable
partner-ships.
In 2003 Cherry invested in a small but promising
company called Betsson, which with Cherry’s help
quickly got things moving. As their different business
areas developed it was decided that Cherry would benefit
from a separation of the different companies.
Today’s Cherry was born in 2006 through the
division of the former Cherryföretagen AB into Betsson,
Net Entertainment and the new Cherry.
Cherry – today – and in the future
The winds of change are now blowing to lay the
foundations for another 50 years of growth. Cherry’s
gaming services are now mainly to be found online and in
restaurants.
The business area Maritime Gaming was sold in
2012, thereby concluding a long and important era in the
company’s history.
The Automaten sites were sold in 2013, which
involved a fantastic transaction for Cherry and its
share-holders. The sales have enabled both generous dividends
and investments in online gaming and new exciting
development projects.
Cherry has invested in the newly started company
Yggdrasil Gaming, which in a short time has taken up
a position in the market for casino and lottery games
development.
Cherry has also invested in Klubblo, a lottery for
Swedish sports.
No one will be surprised if new exciting ventures
continue to emerge, which will drive further growth in
online gaming and helping Cherry to reach its goal of
becoming the leading gaming company of the future.
After over 50 years Cherry is now
stronger than ever and has a full
60 per cent of the Swedish
After over 50 years Cherry is now
stronger than ever and has a full
60 per cent of the Swedish
market
Cherry
1963-2013
1963
AB Restaurang Rouletter is founded.2014
Cherry is appointed Online Gaming Operator of the Year.1968
The business operation is now nationwide.1972
The Cherry name and the cherry symbol are regis-tered.
1978
Prohibition of slot machines hit Cherry hard.
2013
Sells Automaten Group to Betsson for SEK 286.0 million. Acquires CherryCasino.com.
2012
Sells the business area Maritime Gaming.
1984
The foundation for a new group is being created.
a quick look back
1992
Cherry streamlines operations. Investments in eastern Europe are put on hold.
1996
Introduces a new generation of games for the Swedish restaurant and bingo markets.
1998
Cherry acquires 35% of Net Entertainment AB.
1999
Maritime Gaming starts in the Mediterranean. Cherry invests excess liquidity in IT companies, primarily in the Internet sector.
2000
Cherry launches a new logo and the parent company’s B-shares are listed on the OM Stockholm Exchange’s O-list.
2003
Cherry buys into Betsson.com. Signs a large agreement with Danish Shell of gaming environ-ments at petrol stations.
2006
Distributes Cherry Casino to shareholders and are listed on AktieTorget.
2010
Acquires the Auto-maten Group and becomes a leading player in online slot machines.
2011
Launches EuroLotto.com and CherryAf-filiates.com.PART 1 THE SHARE
SHARE STRUCTURE
At the end of the year Cherry had 12,805,642 shares,
divided into 997,600 A-shares and 11,805,042 B-shares.
Each A-share carries 10 votes per share, while each
B-share carries one vote. The shares have equal rights to
the assets and profits in Cherry.
PRICE MOVEMENTS AND TURNOVER
The price (last paid) on the 31 December 2013 was SEK
31.20 in comparison with SEK 20.00 on 31 December
2013 adjusted for dividends/redemption programme.
The market capitalization in 2013 increased to SEK 399.5
million from SEK 371.4 million on 31 December 2013,
which corresponds to an increase of 8 per cent (64).
The adjusted average price per trading day in 2013
was SEK 27.70 (26.60), read more in note 7. The average
adjusted price per trading day in 2013 was SEK 23.96.
The highest official quotation was SEK 37.60 on 6
May and the lowest was SEK 20.40 on 28 August.
The highest official adjusted price was SEK 31.20
on 30 December, and the lowest was SEK 20.50 on 2
January.
Total turnover in 2013 amounted to SEK 96,756,058
(16,583,827), which equals an average turnover of SEK
385,482 (65,809) per trading day.
A standard trading unit in Cherry B is 200 shares.
DIVIDENDS 2014
The board proposes that the annual general meeting
decide upon a transfer to shareholders of SEK 51.2
mil-lion (143.4), corresponding to SEK 4.00 per share (11.20).
The full proposal will be presented in good time prior to
the annual general meeting.
CONVERTIBLES AND OPTIONS PROGRAMME
At an extraordinary general meeting on 19 October 2011
a decision was taken to introduce a long-term incentive
programme for leading executives and key persons in
The share
Cherry’s B-share is listed on AktieTorget.
15
18
21
24
27
30
33
Dec-13 Nov-13 Oct-13 Sep-13 Aug-13 July-13 June-13 May-13 Apr-13 Mar-13 Feb-13 Jan-13 Dec-12Share price Dec 2012 – Dec 2013
Name A-shares B-shares
Proportion of share capital, %
Proportion of residual value, %
Familjen Hamberg med bolag 295,621 515,133 6.33 15.94
Morten Klein 65,660 2,754,707 22.03 15.66
Familjen Kling 295,621 414,742 5.55 15.48
Familjen Andreassen 34,340 1,494 474 11.94 8.44
Familjen Lundström med bolag 104,400 270,704 2.93 6.04
BP2S PARIS/NO CONVENTION 56,099 630,141 5.36 5.47
Familjen Lindwall 89,761 215,802 2.39 5.11
CAIL 56,098 395,695 3.53 4.39
Arild Karlsen via bolag 919,836 7.18 4.22
Björn Hornerud Grene via bolag 769,843 6.10 3.53
FÖRSÄKRINGSAKTIEBOLAGET, AVANZA PENSION 256,196 2.00 1.18
Anders Holmgren via bolag 207,528 1.62 0.95
Emil Sunvisson med bolag 186,459 1.46 0.86
Familjen Rolf Åkerlind 180,800 1.41 0.83
Gunnar Lind 170,720 1.33 0.78
JP MORGAN BANK 158,630 1.24 0.73
SVEA EKONOMI AB 125,000 0.98 0.57
ORIGO QUEST 1 118,379 0.92 0.54
NORDNET PENSIONSFÖRSÄKRING AB 133,196 1.04 0.61
UBS AG CLIENTS ACCOUNT 106,265 0.83 0.49
Other shareholders 1,780,791 13.91 8.18
Total 997,600 11,805,042 100.00 100.00
The twenty largest shareholders as of 31 December 2013
Cherry. The decision involves the issue of a maximum
of 500,000 subscription options to persons employed
with Cherry. The programme involves an offer to acquire
options for shares of the B series in Cherry. 455,000
share subscription options have been offered to
employ-ees, of which 100 per cent have been subscribed. The
subscription options were issued at market price. More
information on the share option programme is available
in Note 7.
LIQUIDITY GUARANTEE
A total of 3,215,602 (622,631) shares have changed
own-ers during the year, which corresponds to approx. 27 (5)
per cent of the average total number of issued B-shares.
Cherry has appointed Remium as a liquidity
guar-antor for Cherry’s B-share. The policy employed by the
board of having a liquidity guarantor is to ensure a lower
investment cost and less risk for investors trading with
the share.
OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE
As of 31 December 2013 the number of shareholders
in Cherry amounted to 2,329 (1,932), which was an
in-crease of 21 per cent.
Several larger holdings in the company are registered
in foreign banks. This practice means that the board has
no information as to who some of the final owners of
Cherry are.
Gunnar Lind
born 1958, Bålsta board member
Member of the board since 2013 Other assignments: Chairman in Explore Lofsdalen AB, chairman in Soundhailer AB. Chairman in Mecomlabs Ltd Share holding: 170,720 B-shares
Auditors
PwC
Appointed at AGM 20-05-2010 for period to AGM 2014.
Senior auditor:
Niklas Renström, Auditor, born 1974, Saltsjö-Boo, authorised public accountant.
Leading executives
PART 1 LEADING EXECUTIVES AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Board of
Directors
Magnus Berglind
born 1970, Stockholm board member
Member of the board since 2013 Other assignments: Partner at Pamir, board member in eWork Scandinavia AB, and SchoolSoft AB
Share holding: No shareholding
Anders Holmgren
born 1973, Stockholm board member
Member of the board since 2010. Founder of gaming site Betsson. Other assignments: Chairman in Northberry AB, Shuflr Ltd, FSI8 Ltd. Member in NASP AB
Share holding: 207,528 B-shares via company
Rolf Åkerlind
born 1943, Saltsjöbaden chairman
Member of the board since 2006 Other assignments: Chairman in SEAB AB and Stark Fasadrenovering. Member in Constant Clean AB
Share holding: 180,800 B-shares. Includes holding via family members and endowment assurance.
Morten Klein
born 1969, Oslo board member
Member of the board since October 2011 Other assignments: Chairman in Morten Klein AS, Klein Holding AS, Yes Games AS, Klein Eiendom AS, Extra Optical AS. Member in Synphonical AS
Share holding: 65,660 A-shares, 2 754,707 B-shares
Martin Wattin
born 1974, Stockholm board member
Member of the board since annual general meeting 2011 Other assignments: Styrelseordförande Rabble Communications AB, VD Inbox Investment AB
Share holding: 27,361 B-shares
Jörgen Olsson
born 1976, Gävle employee representative, board member Appointed by HRF as employee representative since 2007 Share holding: 750 B-shares via associated companyEmil Sunvisson
born 1971, Gnesta
president and ceo cherry ab (publ)
Employed in the group since 2011 Share holding: 186,459 B-shares 200,000 subscription options
Fredrik Burvall
born 1972, Nacka cfo and vice ceo cherry ab (publ), responsible for investor relations (ir) cherry ab (publ) Employed in the group since 2006 Share holding: 49,900 B-shares 50,000 subscription options
Marius Andersen
born 1974, Malta
director and coo in cherry malta ltd and cherry ltd Employed in the group since 2010 Share holding: 50,000 subscrip-tion opsubscrip-tions
Per-Anders
Persson
born 1959, Solna vice ceo cherry casino ab region north
Employed in the group since 1979 Share holding: 37,240 B-shares 20,000 subscription options
Ulf Bergström
born 1966, Kungsbacka vice ceo cherry casino ab region south
Employed in the group since 1986 Share holding: 37,168 B-shares 20,000 subscription options
Aron
Moberg-Egfors
born 1977, Borås
sales manager restaurant casino
Employed in the group since 2009 Share holding: 102,598 B-shares 30,000 subscription options
Cherry’s
Annual Report 2013
The board of directors and CEO in Cherry AB (publ), CIN 556,210-9,909, with
head office in Stockholm, hereby submit the Annual Report for the fiscal year of
2013 for the parent company and the group. The Annual Report and auditors’
report cover pages 23-62.
ABOUT CHERRY
Cherry’s activities during 2013 have been divided into two business areas, along with group-wide and development projects. Au-tomatGruppen, which constituted a large part of the business area Online Gaming, was sold in February 2013. 49 per cent of the shares in the online gaming company Web Resort was acquired in 2013 in the business area Online Gaming.
All figures with an impact on profits have been corrected for disposals and discontinued operations, unless otherwise stated. For dis-continued operations, see Note 31.
ONLINE GAMING
Online gaming via the sites CherryCasino.com, EuroSlots.com, SpilleAutomater.com, EuroLot-to.com, NorgesSpill, NordicSlots and affiliate operations from CherryAffiliates.com, are all run by wholly owned subsidiaries from Malta and Curacao.
RESTAURANT CASINO
Traditional casino gaming (Blackjack and Rou-lette), which is managed at 257 Swedish res-taurants, night clubs and hotels. Cherry also offers companies and private persons Event Casino.
GROUP-WIDE AND DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
Cherry has several development projects man-aged within the group to create new services and products that support Cherry’s business con-cept, expansion and development strategy. Up until the time the product or service is launched and established, the cost is taken centrally within the group and reported in segment reporting as ”Development Project” to create clarity in what the group’s different business areas generate. Cherry has had two development projects during 2013; Yggdrasil Gaming and Klubblo.
THE PAST YEAR
THE GROUP – FISCAL YEAR 2013
Group earnings increased by 15 per cent to SEK 266.3 million (231.5). EBIT for the group amounted to SEK -33.9 million (6.1). A non-re-curring write-down of balance of loss brought forward for development costs in Online Gam-ing has been charged to profits to an amount of SEK -3.1 million.
Group profit after financial items amount-ed to SEK -32.1 million (2.3) and profit after tax amounted to SEK -33.7 million (2.1), correspond-ing to SEK -2.53 EK (0.16) per share after dilution and minority interest.
Return on equity was -13 per cent (1) and on total capital -10 per cent (1). Cash holdings in the group amounted to SEK 68.4 million (59.0) at the end of the period, and the equity ratio amounted to 75 per cent (86). Cherry significant-ly improved its liquidity in February when the Automaten sites were sold. Profits for discontin-ued operations amounted to SEK +25.7 million. Profit per share, including disposed operations and after dilution, amounted to SEK -0.63 (2.30) per share.
ONLINE GAMING – FISCAL YEAR 2013 Group earnings increased by 32 per cent to SEK 127.5 million (96.9). Operating income (EBIT) amounted to SEK -33.0 million (3.0).
Cherry continued with its strong expan-sion in online gaming during 2013. 2013 was a build-up year, with major investments. Cherry launched several new trademarks on its own platform during the year, developed with the latest technology to support mobiles and computers. An organisation has been set up to manage support, marketing and payments. Cherry has also invested in marketing to build up trademark awareness. Taken together these investments have involved a significant bur-den on profits for 2013, but also given Cherry the necessary prerequisites to develop the company.
All of Cherry’s casino sites have undergone extensive face lifts in 2013 with improved sup-port for mobiles.
Deposited amounts increased in 2013 by 57 per cent to SEK 260.1 million (165.9) and the number of active customers increased by 56 per cent and amounted as of 2013-31-12 to 23,347 (15,016). The number of new custom-ers increased by 74 per cent and amounted to 164,782 (94,926), and the number of reg-istered customers amounted at the end of the period to 361,022 (196,240).
IMPORTANT EVENTS IN 2013:
• Cherry received a licence in the German federal state Schleswig-Holstein for online casino in January 2013. Schleswig-Holstein adopted a new law in 2012 which makes it possible to issue licences for online gam-ing to private operators. A total of 20 casino licences have been issued, and the local tax is 20 per cent of gaming earnings.
• Cherry took out a summons in January 2013 at Oslo City Court against the Nor-wegian state concerning the injunction issued against Cherry AB. In the injunc-tion Lotteri- og Stiftelsestilsynet demands that Cherry AB close its offer of gaming for money and stops its marketing in rela-tion to Norwegian citizens for EuroLotto. com. After the Norwegian Lotteritillsynet confirmed that they will not be taking any further action against Cherry AB, Cherry decided to withdraw the summons against the Norwegian state concerning EuroLotto. com.
• Cherry Malta Ltd sold its trademarks and domains related to SverigeAutomaten, Norg-esAutomaten and DanmarksAutomaten to Betsson AB (Publ) on the 19th of Febru-ary. The proceeds amounted to SEK 286.0 million.
• SpilleAutomater.com, a new online casino, was launched in June.
