Kindred Group reports 12% revenue jump for 2023 as Netherlands and UK come to the fore
Stockholm-listed firm sees strategic review near its end as EBITDA leaps and interim CEO named on a permanent basis
Kindred Group has reported a 12% year-on-year (YoY) increase in B2C revenue for full-year 2023 as growth in the Netherlands and the UK offset regulatory headwinds elsewhere.
Revenue jumped from £1.04bn to £1.2bn for the reporting period, while underlying EBITDA in the 12 months increased by 58% to £204.5m.
The return to form in financials in 2023 comes after a difficult 2022 for Kindred, while the group’s strategic review is set to near its end following a £2.1bn bid for the business from French firm FDJ.
Following that bid from FDJ, Kindred had released a brief Q4 trading update, which has remained accurate as of today when the company published its full results breakdown.
Q4 B2C revenue was flat with a 2% uptick to £301.6m while underlying EBITDA leapt 45% to £56.8m.
While there was some decline in sports betting revenue of 6%, with a lower level of activity given the comparison of 2022’s FIFA World Cup, casino revenue improved 7%.
Geographically, the Netherlands, where Kindred is the leading operator with its Unibet brand, saw Q4 revenue jump 19% YoY, with actives increasing 23%.
A similar story in the UK saw revenue increase 17% and actives jump 8% as the Stockholm-listed operator cited margin and bonus efficiencies as “crucial” to that market.
Elsewhere, regulatory headwinds in Belgium continue to bite, with revenue slipping 29% YoY, although management did praise operations in Romania and Denmark as other bright spots.
And despite the operator set to exit North America by the end of Q2, revenue did increase 83%. Kindred said this was due to significant pay outs on the 2022 World Series.
The operator added that its spend in North America is solely focused on retaining customers ahead of the group’s exit.
However, group underlying EBITDA for the quarter was impacted by a negative contribution from the region of £6.1m, albeit down from £6.5m in Q3.
Kindred also detailed a negative £72.7m cost on personnel restructuring and the ongoing North American exit.
The operator then provided a brief trading update for January, with revenue down slightly by 3%.
Elsewhere, Kindred has named interim CEO Nils Andén to take on the position on a permanent basis. EGR spoke with the executive this morning to discuss his transition.
Following the disclosure of the financials, Andén said: “Following the cost-optimisation initiatives announced at the end of 2023, we continue to reallocate resources and marketing investments into areas that will deliver improved growth.
“Specifically, this includes increasing focus on the profitable casino segment and concentrating our marketing efforts within markets where we see significant opportunity to outgrow the market.
“I remain confident that Kindred can deliver above-market growth across our portfolio during 2024. We see robust performance in select core markets, and I expect this momentum to continue going forward,” he added.