Kindred Group on Wednesday said North America remains its “most important growth market,” adding the company is “expanding according to plan.”
The operator’s observations were part of its latest earnings report, in which CEO Henrik Tjärnström proclaimed 2021 was its “strongest year to date, despite temporary headwinds.”
Kindred said it brought in nearly £1.26bn ($1.7bn) in total revenue, with gross winnings revenue (GWR) hitting £1.25bn, an 11% increase year over year.
Underlying EBITDA rose 15% to £332m.
During the fourth quarter of 2021, GWR was down 34% compared to the same period one year earlier.
According to Tjärnström, while competition in the US remains “tough,” the company’s management team is confident in the “strength and quality” of its product mix in states that offer both sports betting and casino.
“We have adopted a measured approach to marketing by not providing unsustainable customer incentives, allowing the group to continue to work on the fundamentals and scale up once we have our product offering and brand in place,” Tjärnström said in a statement.
Kindred’s planned expansion into Canada is expected to go forward with a direct market access license in Ontario in Q2 2022, Tjärnström continued. He said this will give the company the opportunity to use its Unibet brand, “which we are very excited about.”
“An important part of our long-term growth plan in North America is our proprietary platform, set to launch in New Jersey in Q3 2022, following the certification process that starts in Q1,” he explained. “We have been working on our proprietary platform for a long time and see huge opportunities in terms of customer experience, marketing and customer data analysis, product integration, cost efficiencies, as well as safer gambling improvements.
“Once we have launched the platform in New Jersey, other states will follow,” he added.
New deal with Kambi Group
Separately, Kindred on Wednesday said it has signed a new, three-year agreement with long-term partner Kambi Group.
The parties said the new deal will provide Kindred with operational security of its sportsbook until the end of 2026.
In addition to the new agreement, and to fully deliver on its long-term strategy, Kindred said it is developing its proprietary Kindred Racing Platform (KRP) into a complete, in-house sportsbook platform.
“Moving onto a proprietary sportsbook over time will enable Kindred to offer customers a unique end-to-end product experience, while securing greater control of the offering and improving operational efficiency,” the company said in a statement.
Kindred noted it currently operates with a mix of suppliers across all product segments with nearly 40% of sportsbook gross winnings revenue in 2021 derived from proprietary products and in-house trading.
The company said its sportsbook platform will combine in-house and third-party products to improve customer experience while lowering the group’s supplier risk exposure. It said Kambi’s technology and services will remain an “integral part” of Kindred’s sportsbook offering and Kindred will continue to work with Kambi to evolve the partnership both during and beyond the current contract period.
“As we increase our footprint across Europe, North America and Australia, and expand our revenue from locally regulated markets, we are taking a close look at how our product suite is set up,” Tjärnström said. “Our Kindred Racing Platform, developed over the past eight years, is consistently performing above expectations, and has seen significant above market growth since it was launched. We are excited to have taken this step and to develop it into a full sportsbook, while also securing a continued collaboration with our long-term and valued partner Kambi for the coming five years.”
Tjärnström said the team behind the Kindred Racing Platform built it with sports betting in mind from the start, and is “well into the process” of expanding the platform into an in-house controlled sportsbook platform.
“Following the Relax Gaming acquisition in 2021, this is the next step in our long-term strategy of securing greater product control,” he said.
