Online gambling operator Kindred Group, recently rebranded from Unibet Group, reported record high gross winnings revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2017. It increased 25% year-on-year to £153.2 million, despite a lower-than-expected sports betting margin during the reported quarter.
Growth was to a great extent driven by an increase in the number of active customers. During the first quarter of the year, there were 1.2 million active customers across Kindred Group’s multiple iGaming brands.
A jump in sports betting turnover was another performance highlight paid attention to by the company in its quarterly report. The amount of £1.1 billion was wagered during this year’s first quarter, reflecting a 32% increase from the prior year.
Gross winnings revenue from regulated markets accounted for 34% of the bulk, as Kindred Group reported. The operator also hailed its mobile performance. Gross winnings revenue from that particular channel increased 53% year-on-year and represented 73% of the whole.
The operator partly attributed its growing results to increased marketing investment. Kindred Group had previously pointed out that it would invest heavily in drawing new customers and reactivating existing ones. During the three months ended March 31, 2017, marketing represented 29% of gross winnings revenue. The company is planning to maintain its marketing effort at around the same level throughout the rest of the year.
It was announced in February that Kindred Group would buy fellow operator 32Red for the amount of £175.6 million in a bid to further expand its existing multi-brand portfolio and to extend its regulated footprint. Headquartered in Gibraltar, 32Red is mainly targeting the UK gambling marketing, although the company manages Italy-facing iGaming operations, as well.
The acquisition deal is expected to be completed sometime during this year’s second quarter. It has recently been reported that Kindred Group has received regulatory approval to close the transaction.
Through the 32Red purchase, the Malta-based gambling group has joined a consolidation trend within the industry that has seen some of the world’s largest operators combine their businesses to blunt growing competition, regulatory pressure, and other challenges related to the provision of gambling options.
In its quarterly report, Kindred Group said that it expects to increase significantly revenue and profit from the UK iGaming market, which has become the world’s largest regulated one, by adding 32Red to its portfolio of brands. The company said that it expects to begin deriving benefits from the multi-million deal from the second quarter of 2017 onwards.
Reports have emerged that Kindred Group could purchase the Danish national gambling operator Danske Spil for a proposed price of DKK4 billion ($570 million). Country lawmakers have been considering the possibility to split the operator’s assets and to sell its online gambling operations to the private sector, but it is still unknown whether this will happen anytime soon.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from the global gambling industry.
