Kindred sees a decrease in revenue from high-risk players

(PRESS RELEASE) -- In February 2021, Kindred Group plc committed to its Journey towards Zero, making zero percent revenue generated from harmful gambling an integrated part of its group strategy. The past two years have been focused on internal alignment and accelerating the work underlying the process of getting there. While improvements continue to be made, the journey is longer and more challenging than first expected.

“I’m glad to see that the share of revenue from harmful gambling is once again on a downward trajectory,” said Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Kindred Group. “However, as we review the trend over these past two years, it is clear that there is still significant fluctuation and that the curve has not been as steadily declining as we hoped. While we have put in a lot of hard work, we have not seen the development needed to deliver on our 2023 ambition. Despite this we remain firmly committed to our Journey towards Zero, and to do the heavy lifting needed to reach this ambition. We have known from the beginning that we would not solve this overnight and continue to acknowledge the complexity of the task. That being said, we are very happy that we set an ambitious goal, as it has served as a catalyst for our development and prompted us to pick up the pace.”

The share of revenue from harmful gambling decreased from 3.8 per cent in the third quarter to 3.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022. This is a positive deviation from the trend, as the last quarter of the year generally sees an increase in high-risk gambling due to the holiday season. By comparison, the share of revenue from harmful gambling was 4.0 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021. The decrease was due to an improved approach towards the younger demographic, reducing harmful gambling and improving existing interventions, resulting in fewer faulty customer detections.

“It’s also pleasing to see how the ambition we set two years ago has inspired the industry to become more transparent on this topic,” said Tjärnström. “The initiative we presented together with ATG and Svenska Spel in October 2022, with all three companies publicly disclosing joint responsible gambling data in January 2023, is a testament to this. I hope we can see similar initiatives and collaborations across more markets.”

During the quarter 82.1 per cent of detected customers saw improved gambling behavior after contact was made by Kindred’s responsible gambling team. This is in line with levels from previous quarters and serve as another testament to the importance of intervention efforts.

“EPIC have been working with Kindred for some years now and recently extended that partnership to provide expert insight and consultation to help their Journey towards Zero,” said Daniel Spencer, Director of Safer Gambling at EPIC Risk Management. “We want operators to be ambitious in their safer gambling endeavors and encourage collaboration across the industry to achieve this. We are delighted to be able to provide this further consumer insight that ultimately will lead to better player protection.”

To further support the important work, Kindred has formed the Journey towards Zero Panel – a pilot project being driven by the team in the United Kingdom. The Panel is made up of a diverse range of expert organizations from across the gambling community and lived experience. Initial members of the Panel include BetKnowMore, DealMeOut and EPIC Risk Management – with Maris Catania, Advisor on Responsible Gambling at Kindred Group, also joining to provide research expertise and long-standing knowledge of Kindred’s Journey towards Zero project. The Panel will not only ensure that Kindred stays on track with its Journey towards Zero by taking expert advice and guidance from members of the Panel, but it will also serve as a platform for discussions and recommendations on how to improve progress towards zero.

“The Journey towards Zero Panel is a groundbreaking and important piece of work. It is an honor to support it, and it will be an excellent opportunity for many with a wealth of experience from across the sector to ensure Kindred are best equipped to prevent gambling harm,” said Jordan Lea, CEO of DealMeOut.

In its first iteration, the Panel will host a number of focus groups and workshops with panelists to hear their views on how best to reach Kindred’s ambition – as well as assessing the PS-EDS system (Player Safety – Early Detection) to understand areas for improvement and further collaboration. Kindred will report on the progress of the Panel in the coming months.