Kindred harmful gambling revenue share dips to 3.3% in Q1
During the rolling 90-day period between 20 December 2021 and 19 March 2022, 3.3% of all revenue came from players gambling unsustainably, down from 3.9% in Q1 of 2021 and also lower than 4.0% in the fourth quarter of last year.
Kindred said the positive trend was impacted by seasonal changes, with the first quarter historically seeing lower shares of revenue from harmful gambling year-on-year, as well as an optimised process for manual interventions towards high-risk customers. This, Kindred said, resulted in fewer customers being re-detected following interventions.
The percentage of players that had displayed harmful gambling behaviour but improved their pattern of play after intervention from Kindred also reached 83.1%, up from 76.6% in Q1 last year and 79.2% of Q4 2021.
Other related developments during Q1 included Kindred updating the improvement effect metric after interventions. Instead of only focusing on financial indicators, the metric now also includes behavioural indicators, which is more aligned with Kindred’s PS-EDS detection system.
Kindred also continued its more cautious approach to the younger demographic, specifically the age group of 18 to 25. The increased focus, Kindred said, resulted in a larger decrease in the percentage of harmful revenue from this group.
“We started 2022 with a focus on targeted deliveries,” Kindred chief executive Henrik Tjärnström said. “Our team has specifically focused on optimising our manual interventions further, resulting in a higher percentage of customers showing healthier gambling behaviour after they have been detected and contacted by our responsible gambling team.”
In Q1, Kindred also entered into a collaboration with the team behind the RecoverMe app, which uses research-proven techniques to help users regain control of their gambling habits.
Co-founded by Tejus Patel, a junior doctor at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the app is now being offered by Kindred to its customers for free, initially in the UK and the US.
”Only 8% of individuals with problem gambling seek help due to the stigma associated with the addiction, inaccessibility and lack of awareness of treatment options,” Patel said. “RecoverMe’s partnership with Kindred is a vital lifeline in helping us provide care to those that need it most.
“We believe passionately that collaboration with organisations like Kindred will help us reach those that need support and historically have been individuals who are difficult to reach and access therapy.”
Tjärnström added: “I am very proud that we have entered the collaboration with the team behind the RecoverMe app, ensuring we can offer this service for free to all our customers in the UK and the US. We are also sponsoring additional PhD programmes on addiction studies, enabling these students to study and work full-time in academia.
“Our focus right now is to continue to increase efficiency and speed in engaging with detected customers as early intervention is critical in preventing harmful behaviour.”
Earlier this month, Kindred posted a 30.0% year-on-year drop in revenue to £247.0m in the first quarter of 2022, with the operator putting the vast majority of its £105m drop in revenue down to its decision to withdraw from the Netherlands.