Kindred Group has cited strong development within its US business as well as its growing contribution to the company’s bottom line in what has transpired to be a buoyant Q2 update to investors. 

Despite the ongoing impact of the COVID pandemic, the firm recorded Q2 group revenues of $299m, up 4% on $288m year-on-year, with 2020 year-to-date revenues of $617m ($573m). Underlying EBITDA for the second quarter of 2020 was $65.9m (39.4m), and $120m ($79m) for the first half of 2020.

The growth was, said Kindred, mainly driven by positive performances across a number of markets as a result of strong focus on product differentiation. 

CEO Henrik Tjärnström, focusing on global operations and the US performance, stated: “Our teams around the world have worked incredibly well in the new environment, both in dealing with the challenges from the pandemic and in driving efficiency as our cost reduction program continues. Kindred remains conscious of the risk of further disruption both to sports and the wider economy, so we will continue to manage the overall cost base carefully. 

“Our US business continues to develop very strongly, despite the loss of offline revenues and the disruption to sports. Gross winnings revenue amounted to £6m ($7.6m) for the second quarter, an increase of 131% from the first quarter. 

“After less than a year of operations, the US already accounted for more than 2.5% of the group’s gross winnings revenue and this share is expected to accelerate in coming quarters, especially as further states go live.” 

Tjärnström added that in the US the average daily gross winnings revenue for the period July 1 to 19, 2020, increased by 32% compared to the daily average for the second quarter 2020.

On the pandemic, he stated: “The decisive actions taken by Kindred to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 disruption contributed to an increase of 70% in EBITDA during the quarter. The main savings were achieved in marketing, which is logical as most marketing is linked to sports events. 

“Over the coming quarters, we plan to increase our marketing towards normal levels in line with our long term strategy, but we will manage this process in a cautious way.”