5. Kindred Group (2018)
Financials: Kindred continues to deliver double-digit growth, as proven in Q3 with revenue up 22% to £231m and EBITDA up 24%, albeit aided by the World Cup
Strategy & impact: Strategy has been increasingly focused on safer gambling practices with the operator investing heavily in RG technology and partnerships this year
Geographic reach: International reach is fairly split between the Nordics and Western Europe, with an increase in activity in both Belgium and France during 2018
Influence & leadership: Kindred is especially influential in the Nordics and is well-placed for Swedish re-regulation after signing a £155m sponsorship deal with Svensk Elitfotboll
Kindred Group continues to display an impressive tenacity for delivering growth consistently ahead of the wider market average – the result being that this year the firm has cracked the top five of the Power 50 after narrowly missing out in 2017.
This was arguably long overdue. A cursory glance at Kindred’s historical annual gross winnings revenue shows just how much it has kicked on in recent years, with the size of the business more than doubling since 2015. And such impressive growth was demonstrated once again in Kindred’s recent Q3 financial results, with a 22% year-on-year revenue increase on a constant currency basis to £230.7m, while EBITDA was also up 24% compared to Q3 2017.
On a product basis, this growth was coming from nearly all areas of the business, although sports betting was the standout performer with 30% year-on-year growth. One area for concern, however, could be the Nordics. Growth in the region fell from 20% year-on-year in Q3 2017 to just 3% in the same period this year, and although it remains a vital part of Kindred’s DNA, it only accounted for 34% of the business in the quarter.
Competition is now heating up in Sweden ahead of re-regulation, and things are only going to get more difficult for Kindred. However, the Stockholm-listed business still retains a strong position in what is traditionally seen as its home turf and it is a formidable force in markets such as France, the UK and the Netherlands, while it has already made early inroads into the US.
With 11 brands now in its portfolio, the operator is clearly a very different beast to what it was only a couple of years ago under the Unibet Group moniker. Yet Kindred has had a much quieter year on the M&A front, having not added to the business since its £175m acquisition of 32Red back in June 2017. Instead, the operator has focused on organic growth and increased its number of brands by launching a new Romania-facing product in the form of Vlad Casino.
Meanwhile, the launch of an in-house racing platform, a personalised recommendations engine and a Facebook Messenger chatbot shows Kindred hasn’t lost its innovative touch either.