NetEnt and Kindred Announce Financial Growth in Q1

For most iGambling businesses, the first quarter of 2018 seemed to have went pretty well – most gaming developers have reported a year-on-year growth during these first three months, and so have operators. We have two more names to add to the list of companies off to a positive start: Kindred Group and NetEnt have both published their interim reports and the figures are in their favor.

Kindred Group was happy to announce they’ve made a significant breakthrough during the months of January, February and March – all the crucial financial parameters have increased in of revenue. Gross winning revenue stands at £207.8 million, which is 36% more than in the same period last year – 32Red Casino contributed mostly to this with £17.9 million. The underlying EBITDA for the Q1 was £47.5 million.

Profit after tax for the first quarter of 2018 stood at £29.9 million, while earnings per share for the Q1 were £0.131.

Kindred Group’s CEO, Henrik Tjärnström, elaborates: “After an exceptional sportsbook margin in the fourth quarter last year, the margin has normalised in the first quarter of 2018 at 8.2% after free bets. “Gross winnings revenue grew by 36% as reported and by 23% organically and in constant currencies, compared to the same period last year. In Europe, the development of local licensing systems has continued and in Sweden the parliament will vote for a new modern licensing system on June 7, 2018. Outside Europe, during the year we are investigating if and how we can launch any of our brands in the US. “In the period up to April 22, average daily gross winnings revenue in GBP was 52% higher compared to the same period in 2017. Adjusting for the acquisition of 32Red and the impact of exchange rate changes, the growth was 40%.”

Also making good money is industry giant, NetEnt. In their official public financial report for the first quarter, it says that the total revenue amounts to €42.4 million, while operating profit rose from SEK127m to SEK134m, with a margin of 31.2%. Profit after tax also grew from SEK115m to SEK146m. In the first quarter, NetEnt has signed 6 new customer agreements and launched 8 new customers’ casinos, five new slots have been released and digital marketing service contract was signed with Mr Green.

Therese Hillman, acting CEO who has been appointed instead of Per Eriksson who was laid off, comments: “While NetEnt continues to focus on growth, measures were initiated in March to enable margin expansion going forward. Among other things, the company is taking action to reduce costs; for the remainder of the year, we see conditions for better growth, ed primarily by regulated markets, more new games and new customers. We continue to work on optimising the organisation and to make sure that revenues grow more than costs.”

Source:

“Q1 2018 Report”, kindredgroup.com,

“Interim report January-March 2018”, netent.com, April 24, 2018.