Dutch Market Withdrawal Pounds Kindred In October

October 27, 2021
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Kindred Group's gross winnings fell off a cliff in October as the online gambling company was forced to pull out of the Netherlands.

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Kindred Group's gross winnings fell off a cliff in October as the online gambling company was forced to pull out of the Netherlands.

Average daily gross win per day declined 61 percent for the first 24 days of the month compared with the same period last year, the Stockholm-listed company said.

For Kindred, sports-betting margin was also “exceptionally weak” in the period, with margin after free bets at 2 percent compared with 13 percent in the year-earlier period, it said.

Kindred was apparently the leader in the Dutch market, but along with other big online gambling brands such as Entain and Flutter it is not yet eligible to apply for a licence, while incumbents such as Holland Casino and Nederlands Loterij have launched their offerings.

It was also forced to shut off its operations in the country as of October 1, after the government made the surprise decision to warn it would punish even passively accepting Dutch customers once the licensed market launched.

On Tuesday, rival firm Betsson said average daily revenue declined nearly 18 percent in the fourth quarter so far and it also blamed the Netherlands exit and sports-betting margins for the decline.

In the third quarter, Kindred said gross winnings grew by 6 percent to £298.4m, led by gains in online casino.

So-called underlying EBITDA gained 13 percent to £84.2m in the quarter, while post-tax profit grew from £52.5m to £60.6m in the third quarter, Kindred said.

Due to the impact of leaving the Netherlands and the sports-betting margin, Kindred issued revenue guidance, as it said it expects that gross winnings will be between £220m and £260m in the fourth quarter.

Kindred said it hopes to receive its Dutch licence in the second quarter of next year.

In the fourth quarter, daily average gross sports-betting turnover decreased by 21 percent compared with the same period last year, and daily average gross winnings revenue from casino decreased by 24 percent in the same period.

Kindred shares were down more than 16 percent in early trading on Wednesday following the fourth-quarter news.

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