WATCH: Kindred CEO cites French market growth as key driver behind strong Q2 performance

Kindred Group CEO Henrik Tjärnström has pointed to the company’s success in France during Q2 as a key driver for its strong performance during the quarter.

Asked to identify a particular market that drove growth, he pointed out that Kindred’s French market grew “phenomenally”, by 165 per cent year on year.

Explaining why this was the case, he said that last year France was one of the most heavily impacted markets when the pandemic took hold and brought sports events – and sports betting with them – to a halt.

The country’s gambling regulations do not permit any alternative sports, or include concessions for casino betting, so activity, turnover and revenue there dropped dramatically, Mr Tjärnström explained.

In stark contrast, the Euro 2020 tournament brought sports betting back with a bang, and France’s national team had a long run, only being knocked out towards the very end, making the difference between the quarters even more pronounced.

According to Kindred’s quarterly financial report covering the period released last week, following the sportsbook growth the next most important factor was the continued development of active customers.

Gross winnings revenue in France for the second quarter of 2021 increased by nine per cent compared to the quarter earlier, “supported by continued momentum from the conclusion of the domestic football season into the busy summer sporting schedule”.

In terms of the wider Western European region, winnings revenue amounted to £245 million (€287.8 million), for the second quarter of 2021, which is an increase of 74 per cent compared to the same period in 2020.

In the Nordic market, gross winnings revenue amounted to £75.4 million (€87.52 million) in Q2, up 26 per cent on the same period in 2020.