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Kindred Group Plc has continued its run of delivering consecutive ‘all-time high’ quarter performances, with the group praising its scalable business model and operating discipline.
Publishing its full-year 2020 results, the Stockholm-listed online gambling group achieved a record performance in customer activity, breaking the 1.75 million active player mark across its brand portfolio.
High customer activity saw Kindred record all-time-high Q4 gross winnings of £365 million, up 54% on corresponding Q4 2019’s £236 million.
Kindred’s trading momentum was driven by a packed end-of-year sports calendar, as its sportsbook units achieved record gross winnings of £177 million, an increase on the £110 million recorded in Q4 2019 – with the operator maintaining a higher trading margin of 10%.
Delivering double-digit growth across its core Nordic, Western Europe, CIS and Australia markets, Kindred tripled its period underlying EBITDA to £118 million – up from £30 million in the corresponding period in 2019.
Despite its high customer activity, Kindred continued to operate on a ‘strict cost control basis’, helping the company achieve Q4 profit after tax of £99 million, significantly outperforming its 2019 results of £13 million.
“I am pleased that we can finally put 2020, a difficult year for most people, businesses and countries, behind us. It has certainly been a year we will all remember,” said Group CEO Henrik Tjärnström.
“At Kindred, we have successfully managed to navigate these uncertain times and have continued to attract customers who enjoy a safe and entertaining gambling experience, resulting in several new all-time highs this quarter including active customers and Gross winnings revenue, which increased 54 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2019 to GBP 364.7 million.”
Reporting on its full-year activities, Kindred highlighted that its strong Q4 closing had helped the group achieve gross win revenue of over £1 billion for the first time in its history.
Meanwhile, the company underscored its ‘operating discipline’ which helped the company manage Covid headwinds. As a result, Kindred maintained full-year operating costs as £427 million, in-line with 2019 results.
Implementing group-wide cost controls, Kindred declared full-year marketing costs of £203 million and operating expenses of £64 million below its 2019 performance.
Closing its 2020 accounts, Kindred recorded a group underlying EBITDA of £286 million, up from £130 million in 2019, while also tripling its corporate profits after tax to £165 million (FY2019 £57m).
Kindred 2020 results also featured a full breakdown of the firm’s ‘sustainability metrics’ tracking performance of the firm’s ‘safer gambling programme’ – which Kindred states will now be reported as a corporate duty.
Providing a 2021 outlook, Kindred urged caution in overcoming further Covid headwinds across its international markets but underscored the firm’s strategy and resilience to meet its objectives.
Tjärnström concluded: “With a scalable business model and our house in order we are ready for what lies ahead. The year has started well, with the average daily Gross winnings revenue for the first 38 days of 2021 being 41 per cent higher (36 per cent higher in constant currency) than the same period last year.
“Finally, I would like to thank the Kindred team for their outstanding work during a very difficult year and I know that all of us look forward to giving our customers a safe and exciting experience during 2021, building up to the Euros and the Olympics in Tokyo.”
