Kindred Group Archives

Kindred CEO: “No item is sacred” when it comes to cost-cutting

Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Kindred, has said that “no item is sacred” in terms of cutting costs on an earnings call addressing Kindred’s Q4 trading update released earlier today (13 January).

Although Kindred’s Q4 revenue is projected to rise 24.5% year-on-year to £305.0m (€343.1m/$372.2m), Kindred said this was not up to expectations and vowed to take “immediate action”.

Addressing this, Tjärnström said that Kindred would review all areas of cost in order to improve spending for 2023, adding that no cost-cutting is off the table.

“We are looking to review all cost items for efficiency purposes and refreshing our channels for spending in 2023,” he said. “We cannot comment on the overall number at this point.

“But we’re clearly looking across the P&L [profit and loss], and no item is sacred in that sense.”

He said this was due to how vastly the Q4 revenue is set to depart from Kindred’s, and the market’s, expectations.

“We take this very seriously, and the deviation that we see fro..

October 27, 2022

Kindred set for strong Q4 as Netherlands “exceeds expectations” in Q3

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Kindred said it is “exceeding expectations” in the Netherlands and expects rapid revenue growth in the final months of the year, after reporting its first quarter of revenue since reentering the market.

In Q3 of 2021, Kindred reported revenue of £277.8m, which was down by 6.9% year-on-year. Almost all of this revenue came from B2C operations, at £271.9m, while B2B revenue – from Relax Gaming – was £5.9m.

The decline in revenue continued to be down to the operator withdrawing from the Netherlands at the start of Q4 2021. While the operator returned to the country during the quarter, generating revenue again, the amount Kindred took in was less than before the country regulated, as was expected.

Kindred said it was “exceeding expectations” with 137,000 active Dutch customers, and brought in around £400,000 per day since launching on 11 July. Chief executive Henrik Tjärnström added that the business had around a 15% market share in the country.

“Thanks to our strong brand awareness, u..

October 7, 2022

Lotteritilsynet halts daily fines as Kindred stops targeting Norway

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Norwegian regulator Lotteritilsynet has paused issuing daily fines to Kindred Group after the operator confirmed its Trannel subsidiary would no longer target consumers in the country.

However, the operator added that it had done so only as a show of goodwill and that it was confident that its legal position was still correct.

Earlier this month, Lotteritilsynet warned Kindred that it would impose a fine of NOK1.198m (£100,106/€114,549/$112,184) for every day that Trannel did not withdraw from Norway.

The daily fine was due to come into effect three weeks after the day that Lotteritilsynet decided to implement the fine. That decision came on 14 September, after it previously warned the operator it would issue fines if it did not exit the market.

The regulator said these fines would only stop when the amount owed reaches Trannel’s annual gross profit, which the regulator estimated to be approximately NOK437m, or when the operator withdraws from the country.

Trannel does not hold a ..

July 25, 2022

DIY or third-party: the sportsbook technology debate

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The debate over whether operators should build their own technology or use a third-party solution has raged for decades, but it appears to have grown more intense as the US market opens. However, as Daniel O’Boyle reports, it may not be a question with a clear answer

It’s said that if you want something done well, you should do it yourself.

That appears to be an adage many sports betting operators have taken to heart.

Hop on any earnings call for a US operator, and there will no doubt be plenty of mentions of “proprietary sportsbook technology”.

The demand among operators for in-house solutions is backed up by their money. In 2020, DraftKings merged with SBTech, valuing the supplier at $634.1m. Last year, Caesars acquired William Hill for $3.7bn, mostly for its proprietary technology.

Meanwhile, theScore announced a long process to build its own sportsbook technology, which surely played a major part in Penn National Gaming acquiring it for $2bn.

“I don’t want to get distracted b..

June 8, 2022

Kindred secures Dutch licence

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Unibet operator Kindred Group has secured an online gambling licence from the Dutch regulator de Kansspelautoriteit (KSA).

The licence, which comes into effect from today (8 June) will enable Kindred to offer both commercial online gambling and betting to players in the country’s regulated market.

Kindred said the issuing of the licence follows an extensive application process including the successful completion of relevant audits.

The group added that it will launch its flagship Unibet brand in the Netherlands within the coming days.

“The Netherlands is a large and important European market and one that we look forward to operating in with a local licence,” Kindred chief executive Henrik Tjärnström said.

“We have been advocating local licence schemes for the past decade, and are thrilled that our newly awarded licence in the Netherlands will allow us to deepen and develop our involvement in the Dutch society, as well as actively contribute to a fair and sustainable gambling ma..

May 4, 2022

New shareholder Corvex urges Kindred board to consider sale

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Investment fund Corvex Management has urged Kindred’s board to look into sale or merger opportunities, soon after announcing that the fund now owns 10% of the operator.

The business led by Keith Arlyn Meister issued a statement last week disclosing that it now owns more than 10% of Kindred’s shares and voting rights, in accordance with Swedish regulations.

Now the New York-based hedge fund has outlined what it sees as the best goals for Kindred’s future.

“We are excited to be large shareholders of Kindred. To date, we have had constructive conversations with both the chairman of the board and senior management of Kindred,” Corvex said. “We believe Kindred has built a strategic position in the rapidly growing global online gaming space.

Corvex outlined that the business should retain an advisor to look at possible sale opportunities.

“Given recent developments, we believe the Kindred Board should immediately retain a leading, global financial advisor to evaluate strategic alternati..

April 8, 2022

Dutch withdrawal leads to 30% revenue drop for Kindred in Q1

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Kindred’s revenue has dropped by 30.0% year-on-year to £247.0m in the first quarter of 2022, with the operator putting the vast majority of its £105m drop in revenue down to its decision to withdraw from the Netherlands.

The drop in revenue was mostly due to the fact that Kindred agreed to block all Dutch customers from 1 October, when the country opened its online gaming market, until it receives a licence.

This came in response to a change in enforcement policy towards unlicensed operators in the Netherlands, which led to LeoVegas, Betsson, Entain and Casumo all also taking the same decision.

At the time, Kindred CEO Henrik Tjärnström said the operator believed it did not have to block customers from the Netherlands as long as it did not target them, but said Kindred would not accept Dutch customers until it received clarification. However, Kindred later announced that its sites would continue to be closed to players from the Netherlands until it receives a licence.

This, it sai..

March 28, 2022

Unibet prepares for Ontario launch after securing igaming licence

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Kindred's Unibet brand has detailed its plans to launch in Ontario, having received a licence to do so.

This marks Unibet’s seventh licence in North America.

Kindred will launch its online gaming and sports betting products through Unibet under Ontario’s open regulatory model.

Ontario’s online gaming market will launch on 4 April and will be overseen by iGaming Ontario, a subsidiary of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).

“This is an exciting day and a significant milestone for both Kindred and Unibet,” says Amanda Brewer, country manager Canada, Kindred Group. “We are proud to have received permission to launch in Ontario on the first day the market opens and look forward to building long-term relationships with our customers and partners.”

Several other operators secured licences ahead of the market launch, including Bet365, Flutter-owned FanDuel and PointsBet.

“Ontario is full of sports teams and passionate fans, which is no surprise given the history and ..

February 9, 2022

Kindred records “strongest year to date” after year-on-year revenue increase

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Kindred has reported revenue figures of £1.26bn (€1.50bn/$1.71bn) for 2021, representing an 11.4% increase on the previous year.

Casino and games revenue was the biggest contributor to the total with £648.7m, up 12.0% from £579.0m in 2020. Sports betting revenue accounted £547.2m, while poker revenue came to £30.8m. Other revenue sources added a further £28.5m.

Western Europe proved to be the most lucrative region for Kindred in 2021, generating revenue of £798.4m- an increase of 13.1%. The Nordic countries followed with £287.8m, while central, eastern and southern Europe added £110.5m.

Operating costs for the year totaled £470.4m. Marketing costs were £234.7m, while administrative expenses came to £235.7m. Other costs incurred, including merger and acquisition expenses and personnel restructuring, amounted to £16.5m.

However Kindred received an extra £75.5m from regulatory sanctions and previously held equity interest.

Operating profit for 2021 was £342.2m, a rise of 66.2% ye..

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