Strong growth in regulated markets and careful cost management have helped push online gaming operator Kindred Group towards a glowing set of Q3 figures this week.
The firm, which describes the US sports betting sector as a ‘key investment market’ cited gross winnings revenue of $369m ($297m 2019) million, an increase of 24%. Underlying EBITDA was $98.1m ($49m 2019), while pre-tax profit amounted to $79.1m ($28.1m 2019). Post-tax profits came in at $69m ($23.1m 2019).
CEO Henrik Tjärnström told investors: “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 ($369m), a 24% increase compared to the same period last year, and an all-time high in active customers.”
On the firm’s stateside business, he added: “The US is a key investment market where our team have been working hard to go live in our third state, Indiana, during the quarter. We are now pushing forward to launch in Illinois and Iowa in 2021, along with more states in the pipeline.
“It is encouraging to see the continued strong growth in the US, with the market share in Pennsylvania reaching above 5% during the third quarter. With New Jersey and Indiana also growing steadily, I expect the US to become one of Kindred’s largest markets during the next couple of years.
“As with all market entries, the initial investment phase is focused on building our customer base and, as a result, the US market has seen revenue negatively impacted by big bonus campaigns during the second half of the quarter, but still grew 22% sequentially.”
The CEO also welcomed a return to form on the sportsbook front, saying: “The finalization of the previous season’s sports leagues combined with the start of the new season resulted in a strong sportsbook activity, albeit with a slightly lower sportsbook margin of just over 8% for the quarter.
“It is also promising that the strong activity levels for other products have sustained. With the return of major sports leagues across the world, and the ongoing shift from offline to online, our active customer base grew by 19% compared to the same period last year. Other contributing factors are the great efforts made to enhance customer experience and high customer satisfaction scores, both important as we expand our locally regulated footprint.”
