Kindred has outlined that it’s looking to expand into the US market, with the launch of Unibet in New Jersey.
Speaking after the group issued positive H1 2018 results, Kindred Group CEO Henrik Tjärnström outlined that the group will benefit from leading with its Unibet brand in states where sports betting is legalised.
When asked what Kindred’s approach to the US market would be, the firm’s CEO emphasised: “Our working hypothesis right now is when sports becomes available, we would see it as a big benefit if we could go with the Unibet brand, albeit we fully appreciate that it’s unknown in the US market, but it has worked well in Europe and we believe it could work well in the US as well.
“But of course, it’s part of the overall discussion with potential partners. On what brand, it depends a little bit on the set up as well state by state, what kind of brands would make sense, but if nothing else, the Unibet brand is our main hypothesis for now, but we also have 32Red which could be an option if we wanted to go on a pure casino entry in some states, if that’s the opportunity.
“We’re not really fixed throughout the different states, but for New Jersey where sport is available with the Unibet brand.”
Detailing how positive the previous financial period has been for Kindred, he stated: “The World Cup provided a significant all-time high in customer activity and continued strong organic growth, and unexpected results led to a sportsbook margin of 8.2 per cent after free bets,” he said.
“Gross winnings revenue increased 24 per cent organically and in constant currencies which means that we are continuing to gain market share. Gross winnings revenue from mobile grew by 29 per cent compared to the second quarter last year and amounted to 72 per cent of our total gross winnings revenue. Of the group’s gross winnings revenue 43 per cent came from locally regulated markets.”
“Our underlying EBITDA grew by 25 per cent compared to the same period last year.”
