Since February last year, Kindred has documented its “journey towards zero,” an attempt to reduce and ultimately eliminate revenue from problem gambling.
However, as the group noted, this has “fluctuated somewhat over the year.” This was certainly true for Q4, when its share of revenue from harmful gambling climbed by seven percentage points.
The company credited this rise to historic trends. Kindred said: “The fourth quarter of the year sees an increase in high-risk gambling. This is due to the holiday season which can be a sensitive time for some people.”
This rise occurred despite Kindred investing more resources into its responsible gambling team during Q4. It acknowledged this and said it highlights “the necessity to focus on earlier interventions.”
All-in-all, the group ended 2021 with virtually the same share of revenue from harmful gambling as when the year began.
Nevertheless, Kindred remained dedicated to achieving 0%, with its CEO Henrik Tjärnström commenting: “While we are not pleased that the trend remains flat over the last year, we have known from the beginning that we won’t solve this overnight, and we know there is still work to do.
“We have committed ourselves to this ambition and we will continue to work towards reaching 0% revenue from harmful gambling.”
Looking forward, Tjärnström added: “While 2021 has been focused on research initiatives and having a better data-driven understanding of player dynamics, we will in 2022 continue the work to increase our capacity to effectively engage better and faster with detected customers.”
