Short-term headwinds continue but long-term optimism remains
Kindred Group plc – Interim report: January – March 2022 (unaudited)
First quarter 2022
- Total revenue (B2C and B2B) was GBP 246.7 (352.6) million
- Gross winnings revenue (B2C) decreased by 31 per cent (29 per cent in constant currency) to GBP 242.4 (352.6) million. Excluding the Netherlands, Gross winnings revenue declined by 7 per cent (3 per cent in constant currency)
- Underlying EBITDA decreased by 77 per cent to GBP 24.5 (106.0) million
- Profit before tax amounted to GBP 7.6 (85.3) million
- Profit after tax amounted to GBP 6.4 (72.6) million
- Earnings per share were GBP 0.03 (0.32)
- 1,927,590 shares/SDRs were purchased at a total price of SEK 194.6, or GBP 15.4 million
- Free cash flow amounted to GBP -5.5 (90.1) million
- Number of active customers was 1,377,317 (1,818,759)
CEO Henrik Tjärnström comments on the first quarter 2022
“While the start of 2022 has seen societies returning to normal after two years of COVID-19 impacting our lives, we are today witnessing worrying geopolitical development in Europe, bringing both uncertainty and tragedy that will leave its mark for the foreseeable future. Whilst these developments have had a limited impact on Kindred’s performance for the first quarter of 2022, we continue to notice an impact from post-COVID-19 normalisation across markets, as well as the decision to cease activity in the Dutch market in Q3 2021.”
“Our diversified product and market mix provides us with a relative degree of stability across the Group. We have seen this on several occasions, not least during the pandemic when sports virtually disappeared for a period. Excluding the Netherlands, our diversified portfolio has seen solid casino performance across markets during the first quarter of 2022 with growth of 1 per cent from the same period in the prior year despite tough comparatives. This has balanced out the slightly more volatile sportsbook, which started out strong but had a weaker second half of the quarter.”
“The cessation of activity in the Dutch market continued to have a short-term impact on our Gross winnings revenue, which came in at GBP 242.4 million for the quarter, in line with the fourth quarter 2021 but significantly below the same period last year. While this temporary top-line pressure reduces our profitability in the short-term, we maintain a very positive long-term view on the return from investments in our tech platform and strategic projects, such as our US expansion and the recently announced Kindred Sportsbook Platform.”
“We embarked on our transformation journey more than ten years ago and it is very satisfying that we are nearing, in the coming months, one of the final major milestones. We have an exciting time ahead of us and I have great confidence in the direction we are taking through our long-term focus.”
Trading update up to and including 26 April 2022
The average daily Gross winnings revenue for the Group up to and including 26 April 2022 was 37 per cent (35 per cent in constant currency) lower than the daily average for the full second quarter of 2021.
Excluding the Netherlands, the average daily Gross winnings revenue for the Group up to and including 26 April 2022 was 15 per cent (13 per cent in constant currency than) lower than the daily average for the full second quarter of 2021.
Sports betting Gross winning revenue has been negatively impacted by a weak sports betting margin of only 7.8 per cent after free bets (compared to 10.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2021), whereas the daily average Gross winnings revenue for casino and other products has remained at the same level as the full first quarter of 2022.
Kindred Group’s presentation of the interim report
Kindred Group’s CEO Henrik Tjärnström will host today, on Thursday 28 April, a web presentation in English at 10.00 (CEST) which is web casted live on https://www.kindredgroup.com/q12022.
For those who would like to participate in the telephone conference in connection with the presentation, please call:
UK: +44 33 3300 9268
US: +1 646 7224 957
SE: +46 8 505 58 351
Please call in well in advance for registration. There will be an opportunity to ask questions after the presentation.
This disclosure contains information that Kindred Group is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU nr 596/2014) and the Swedish Securities Markets Act (2007:528). The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person, on 28-04-2022 07:30 CET.
For more information:
Patrick Kortman, Director of Corporate Development & Investor Relations, +46 723 877 438
Linda Lyth, Investor Relations Manager, +46 767 681 337
About Kindred Group
Kindred Group is one of the world’s leading online gambling operators with business across Europe, US and Australia, offering over 30 million customers across 9 brands a great form of entertainment in a safe, fair and sustainable environment. The company, which employs about 2,000 people, is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm Large Cap and is a member of the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and founding member of IBIA (International Betting Integrity Association). Kindred Group is audited and certified by eCOGRA for compliance with the 2014 EU Recommendation on Consumer Protection and Responsible Gambling (2014/478/EU). Read more on www.kindredgroup.com.
Nasdaq Stockholm, KIND-SDB