Kindred Group lowers revenue from high-risk players ahead of government white paper

Kindred Group has lowered the revenue derived from high-risk players in the UK ahead of a government’s white paper on gambling.

Data showed that UK revenues from high-risk behaviours fell at a rate of 16 per cent. In the first quarter of 2021, the group’s UK earnings obtained through harmful gambling was at 5.5 per cent, but it went down to 4.6 per cent by the end of the year.

Kindred’s revenue from financially vulnerable people has decreased to less than 1 per cent of the group’s total.

In the three months to September, the company reported a 18.3 per cent a surge in profit, going up from £60.7m to £71.8m, while earnings per share went up to 27p.

“We are committed to contributing positively to that debate and believe that by providing further data from our books and working together with government and other stakeholders, we can reach a solution to ensure players who need assistance with their betting behaviour receive it,” said Kindred’s UK general manager Neil Banbury.

“We have come a long way at Kindred – with our internal processes helping to inform deposit limits and other safer gambling tools – but we want to continue going further to drive down that figure to 0 percent by 2023.”

The data showed that higher spending levels do not equate higher levels of harm, as the risk profile of revenue on higher spending accounts is lower compared with lower ones.

“We will in 2022 continue the work to increase our capacity to effectively engage better and faster with detected customers,” added the group’s chief executive Henrik Tjärnström. “Besides additional self-control tools and optimised customer communication, will we launch automated interventions for lower risk groups.”

Kindred Group is not the only gambling company to have raised its standards to protect vulnerable customers.

In October, William Hill announced that the number of customers using deposit limits had grown from 18 per cent in 2018 to 42 per cent in 2020, while the number of safer gambling interactions had exploded, reaching 877,872 in 2020.

“Whether by doing more to protect under-18s and other vulnerable people from exposure to gambling adverts, or identifying at-risk players through technology, we are continually driving up standards to ensure gambling remains as safe and enjoyable as possible,” it said in a statement.