Kindred Group reveals 4% of Q4 revenue derived from harmful gambling
CEO Henrik Tjärnström “not pleased” with 21% rise on Q3 as company has under a year to hit self-imposed target of 0%
Kindred Group has announced that 4% of its revenue in Q4 2021 came from the proceeds of harmful gambling.
The figure represents a 21% increase from 3.3% in Q3 2021, with Kindred noting the rise could be attributed to the historic tendency for the fourth quarter of the year to see “an increase in high-risk gambling”.
“This is due to the holiday season, which can be a sensitive time for some people,” the operator suggested, adding that its exit from the Netherlands at the end of September was a contributing factor as it led to an increase in the numbers reported.
However, the 4% figure indicates an improvement year-on-year (YoY) from 2020 when 4.3% of revenue was attributed to harmful gambling.
In Q2 and Q1 2021 the share of revenue from harmful play was 4.3% and 3.9% respectively. The Stockholm-listed operator has set itself the goal of reaching 0% by 2023.
Henrik Tjärnström, Kindred Group CEO, said: “Despite the share in revenue from harmful gambling increasing this quarter, we remain dedicated and focused on our journey towards zero.
“While we are not pleased that the trend remains flat over the last year, we have known from the beginning that we won’t solve this overnight, and we know there is still work to do,” he added.
Kindred’s sustainability journey to 0% revenue from harmful gambling is focused on educating customers in safer gambling practices, investing in player safety technology and collaborating with research groups to help to identify those who may be at risk earlier.
Kindred has recently hit out at attempts by certain sections of the Swedish government to reintroduce temporary restrictions that were first introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic, plans that were eventually scrapped at the end of January.