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Kindred Group has declared that its ‘diverse long-term business model’ and ‘cost focus’ will help the company deliver on all 2020 objectives, navigating a year of unprecedented business challenges.
Publishing its Q3 trading statement (period ending 30 September), Kindred has recorded group revenues of £280 million, reflecting a 24% increase on Q3 2019’s corresponding £226 million.
Driving performance, Kindred stated that its strong 2020 momentum had been maintained a by a deep regulated market make-up, in which customers have returned to wagering on sports markets following global lockdown.
“During the quarter, our locally regulated markets achieved annual growth in Gross winnings revenue of 31 per cent, which I am extremely pleased about. Our continued focus on costs resulted in a total Group underlying EBITDA of GBP 74.6 million for the quarter,” explained Group CEO Henrik Tjärnström.
Q3 trading saw Kindred brands (Unibet, 32Red, iGame) record a further ‘all-time high in customer activity’ as the active players rose by 19% to 1,650,153 (Q3 2019: 1,384,416). Kindred detailed that it was able to maintain high customer activity across all brands, whilst operating on a lower marketing cost basis as part of the firm’s COVID-19 strategy.
Closing Q3 trading, Kindred declared group after-tax profits of £52.5 million, almost tripling its 2019 results of £18 million.
As it stands, the Stockholm-listed operator looks forward to completing full-year 2020 trading in which group year-to-date revenues track at £765 million up 13% on YTD 2019 £676 million.
In its statement, Kindred underscored the firm’s long-term business model, which saw the company diversify its revenues and earnings across multiple regulated markets – a factor that has helped the company absorb 2020’s Covid shocks.
“Entering these markets often has a short-term negative impact on our business, but we know that, if managed well, this is temporary, and that profitability will be restored over time,” Tjärnström stated backing Kindred’s business model.
Moving to close 2020 trading, Kindred YTD underlying EBITDA stands at £167 million (YTD 2019: £100m) with combined group profits (after tax) of £80 million (YTD 2020: £45m).
Tjärnström concluded: “Reflecting on the past six months, it is evident that societies across the world continue to struggle as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these challenges, and thanks to our diverse business model, I am pleased that we can report sustained momentum across our markets with Gross winnings revenue of GBP 280.7 million, a 24 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, and an all-time high in active customers…
“As an organisation, we continue to endure the pandemic and our dedicated teams are doing a terrific job as they run the business from their homes. The ability of the entire Kindred team to adapt to these new circumstances, and turn it into a strength, demonstrates our progressive attitude as a company. I am both proud and pleased to see how well we have all managed to deal with this difficult situation.”
