Kindred Group has reported a 5% dip in Q4 revenues to £236.2m. Kindred said below-average sportsbook margins and regulatory restrictions within the market made revenues fall below expectations.

Underlying group EBITDA for the fourth quarter dropped to £30.7m, down from £58.8m in the same period in 2018.

Profit after tax for the fourth quarter of 2019 amounted to GBP 10.9 million and GBP 56.6 million for the full year 2019.

Some of the factors that impacted the fourth quarter of 2019 were the same as we reported in previous quarters, such as the Swedish regulation and increasing restrictions in the Dutch market. These and other headwinds are a normal part of our business that we address, adjust to and, over time, use as a competitive advantage. The initiatives we have taken in Sweden to return to growth has resulted in continued recovery from the low EBITDA in the first half of the year; however, compared to the fourth quarter of 2018 the EBITDA from Sweden was still down by GBP 6.6 million.”

“As we noted in our trading update on 13 January 2020, there were some temporary factors that reduced the profit for the fourth quarter. We had below average sports betting margins in many markets, including France. The French turnover-based gambling tax increased the negative effects of the low margins significantly, however the tax system in France changed on 1 January 2020 to a tax on revenues.” says Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Kindred Group.