Kindred says World Cup disrupts sporting calendar

Kindred Group has revealed its unaudited trading update for the fourth quarter of 2022. The quarter was marked by the World Cup in Qatar, which was a highly-anticipated event for betting companies around the world. Yet, Kindred Group is not convinced that the World Cup resulted in a net benefit for operators.

The company said that revenue in the fourth quarter of the year reached £305m, more than the £244.9m registered in the fourth quarter of 2021. Overall, total revenue increased by 24% in the last three months of the year. There were some 1.83m active customers across the Group’s brands in the run-up and during the World Cup, so there were clearly benefits to the biggest soccer competition of the year.

However, Kindred Group painted a slightly different picture, explaining that the World Cup had proven a big disruptor of traditional soccer fixtures with leagues folding their normal game days and with players heading over to Qatar.

Kindred Group also commented on the Houston Astros winning the Major League Baseball World Series and upsetting sportsbook expectations. Other than this minor upset, though, results in the North American market remained robust for the Group. Kindred, similarly to 888, acknowledged that there has been both an uptick in the company’s operations in leading markets.

However, the results remained fairly suppressed due to a stronger focus on sustainability and a ream of regulatory changes. Among those are a commitment to continue tackling revenue from harmful gambling and most recently with the help of EPIC Risk Management.

The underlying EBITDA for Q4 2022 was put at £39m, ahead of the £27.6m posted in the fourth quarter of 2021. Kindred is aware of the challenges that have contributed to worse-than-expected results, but the Group is also looking into several ways to amend this, including through the optimization of operating expenses to assist with growth costs and improve scalability.

Other factors include a strategic decision to decrease marketing spending ahead of new launches of the Kindred brands in North America, for example. The Group is also looking for better investment opportunities to focus on key strategic initiatives and short-term costs.

The business is still committed to its non-recurring indicative guidance for 2023, with Kindred arguing that most results fall short still of the true potential of the Group and its earning potential. In 2023, Kindred Group will seek to establish an EBITDA of at least £200m. There are challenges still, but Kindred remains ready to brace them.

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