Strong figures anticipated

Kindred Group forecasts that its second-quarter year-on-year revenue result will be greater in 2020 despite having had to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

revenue for the three months ending June 30 will rise to ￡235m ($294m)

The global online gambling operator anticipates that revenue for the three months ending June 30 will rise to ￡235m ($294m), marking a 3.9% increase from the ￡226.2m ($283m) posted for the same period in 2019.

Success despite sports betting slump

Kindred acknowledged that the suspension or cancellation of most major sporting events during the coronavirus outbreak had a significant impact on its sports betting operations. However, it said the damage was mitigated by other verticals experiencing decent growth.

Success was achieved thanks to investments in technology in recent years, including the group’s proprietary racing platform, as well as increases in areas such as virtual sports and esports betting.

damage was mitigated by other verticals experiencing decent growth

As Kindred only operates online, it believes that the shutdown of land-based gaming facilities led to patrons shifting their gambling activity online. Kindred Group has 11 online brands under its organisation, including Unibet, 32Red, and Maria Casino.

A contraction in some areas

According to a company press release, Kindred’s betting duties were significantly lower in the second quarter compared to first-quarter figures. This was largely due to the widespread cancellation of sports, particularly in the French market, which has the highest tax rates and offers very limited betting options.?

11% drop year-on-year in the number of active customers, falling to 1.3 million accounts

The group also observed an 11% drop year-on-year in the number of active customers, falling to 1.3 million accounts during the quarter. However, this was normal according to the operator, which stated that a lot of occasional and recreational players are only motivated to bet on sporting events.

The full report for the quarter is set to be published on July 24.?

Striving for innovation

Kindred’s commitment to innovating the gaming space and to new-technology investments appears to be paying off, judging by the company’s forecasts for the second quarter.

Head of gaming Cristiano Blanco spoke about the group’s approach on the panel titled Operators and Innovation at the CasinoBeats Malta Digital summit held last week. He said the gaming industry is in dire need of a wake-up call that would see it “raise the bar of innovation” higher.

Blanco concluded: “I would like the B2C to […] be more active when it comes to innovation because at the moment we are not, especially when it comes to the big operators.”