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Kindred Group generated 3.3% of its total revenue from harmful gambling during Q4 2022, the firm asserts, marking a return to form after the number rose to 3.8% in Q3.
As it stands, the group’s percentage of revenue from harmful sources remains steady, having stood at 3.3% during the first and second quarters of 2022.
The firm set itself a goal of achieving 0% revenue from problem gambling by 2023 in June 2021, and has entered into a number of partnerships in pursuit of this objective, such as with EPIC Risk Management and Zafty Intelligence.
“I’m glad to see that the share of revenue from harmful gambling is once again on a downward trajectory,” said Henrik Tjärnström, Kindred Group CEO.
“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.”
With its total revenue from high-risk players remaining roughly steady at 3.3%, the group added that the improvement rate among customers exhibiting signs of gambling harm has also stayed consistent.
It has declined somewhat, however, standing at 83.1% in Q1 2022, 84.7% in Q2 and 82.6% in Q3, falling slightly to 82.1% in the final quarter of last year.
As mentioned above, partnerships have been central to Kindred’s ‘Journey to Zero’ strategy – these collaborations have included with harm minimisation groups such as EPIC, but also with other operators.
In October last year, Kindred became part of a trio of Swedish operators to pledge to disclose data on problem gambling to ‘contribute to a facts-based dialogue on what is being done to reduce gambling harm.”
The group published its first report last month, showcasing figures such as the number of customers who displayed problem gambling behaviour contacted – Kindred’s stood at 0.5%, whilst Svenska Spel contacted 4.2% and ATG 1.4%.
Tjärnström added: “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.
“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.”
Meanwhile, in the UK, Kindred has formed its ‘Journey towards Zero Panel’, a pilot project consisting of ‘expert organisations’ such as EPIC, BetKNowMore and DealMeOut, ahead of the Gambling Act review judgement due this spring.
Backed by research from Kindred’s Advisor on Responsible Gambling Maris Catania – who recently joined SG:certified– the panel will provide ‘advice and guidance’ and serve as a discussion and recommendations platform for the Stockholm-listed gambling group.
Dan Spencer, Director of Safer Gambling at EPIC Risk Management, said: “EPIC have been working with Kindred for some years now and recently extended that partnership to provide expert insight and consultation to help its Journey towards Zero.
“We want operators to be ambitious in their safer gambling endeavours 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.”
Kindred plans to report on the panel’s progress ‘in the coming months’, as plans are currently put in place for focus groups and workshops, as well as an assessment of the Player Safety – Early Detection (PS-EDS) system to identify areas for improvement.
Jordan Lea, CEO of DealMeOut, added: “The Journey towards Zero Panel is a groundbreaking and important piece of work. It is an honour 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.”
