Kindred CEO: We may not meet 0% harmful revenue target by the end of 2023

Kindred Group CEO Henrik Tjärnström has revealed his aspirations of achieving 0% revenue from high-risk players by the end of 2023 may not be achieved but that the project remains a “long-term” focus.

As of the last set of financial results for Q2 2022, the share of revenue generated from high-risk customers sat at 3.3%. This was the same as it was in Q1 2022 but down on the 3.9% in Q2 2021. The average for the past 10 quarters is 3.94%.

Speaking exclusively to EGR, Tjärnström said that while progress was going well, there is a chance it may not reach its ambitious goal in the original time frame, and that 0% is more a long-term target.

“We’re on a long-term journey. We were transparent with that from the outset, and we set the original time frame of 2023, and that is what we’re pushing ourselves internally to get as close as we can to within that timeframe as well,” Tjärnström said.

“But, life doesn’t stop at the end of 2023. Of course we need to continue to work on this and we have put a lot of the fundamentals in place. We have been on a downward journey since last year but we’re really focused on the long term.”

When asked whether the 0% target was too ambitious, Tjärnström felt that it needed to be set out in this manner.

He commented: “It is ambitious, but it needed to be ambitious. Behind every number is an individual that is critical to remember and we cannot be satisfied with anything but 0%.”

Tjärnström spoke during Kindred’s sixth annual Sustainable Gambling Conference in Amsterdam and remarked that such events are vital to raising awareness of these topics in the industry.

“These kinds of events are extremely important; we have done this for six years running, and to raise awareness in the industry of such important topics is absolutely critical.”

When speaking about how the industry can improve its responsible gambling approach, the CEO called on all stakeholders to help in this movement.

He said: “We need more collaboration among stakeholders in the industry. It’s not just operators and suppliers, but also government, regulators and media. We are trying to open an honest dialogue and discussion and we are encouraged that we hear a lot of people are now talking the same language.”

A key pillar of Kindred’s responsible gambling strategy is its PS-EDS system which helps the operator detect those who are at a higher risk of gambling harm. In its most recent results of the system, Kindred noted that 85% of those alerted by the system changed their gambling habits as a result.

Tjärnström remarked: “It is part of our long-term ambition and we are quite proud that we managed to increase this number from 79% to 85%. We, of course, want to get as close to 100% as well.

“Again it is long-term work and effort that we are putting in on how we contact our customers, what tools we offer and what kind of interaction we have with the customer as well.”