Kindred Group reported that online poker revenue—primarily through its Unibet brand—increased47 percent during the third quarter to $5.7 million and its online sports betting and casino sites upped its overall winnings 19 percent for the quarter.
Poker revenue is at $16,85 million for the year, but that now makes up only about 1.9 percent of its business.
Kindred’s sports betting and online casino businesses brought in a profit before tax for the quarter of $54.45 million. Year-to-date revenues were $135.5 million through September. Gross winnings amounted to $299 million for the quarter, an increase of 19 percent. Year-to-date winnings were $852.5 million through September.
Here’s CEO Henrik Tjärnström offered the top-down view to investors:
“Despite a 33 percent increase in betting duties and marketing investments up 24 percent this quarter, our underlying EBITDA grew by 24 percent in constant currencies compared to the same period last year (+19 per cent in GBP), showing the scalability of our business model and our continued good cost control,” said CEO Henrik Tjärnström in an earnings report.
Tjärnström said that strong margins and an overall growth in mobile sports betting contributed to the gains.
“Gross winnings revenue increased by 22 percent in constant currencies which means that we are continuing to gain market share,” he said. “Gross winnings revenue from mobile grew by 24 per cent compared with the third quarter last year and amounted to 74 per cent of our total Gross winnings revenue. Of the Group’s Gross winnings revenue 42 per cent came from locally regulated markets.”
Kindred Group has also announced a partnership for online sports betting with Hard Rock Atlantic City to enter the U.S. market.
“Last year the Group decided to enter the US market and after the US Supreme Court ruled against PASPA in May this year, we applied for an online license in the state of New Jersey,” he said. “The USA is the world’s largest gambling market and we see it as a great opportunity for Kindred.”
In another matter, Kindred announced it will now offer games form online developer Pragmatic Play on its platforms, including Unibet, under a new agreement.
