Kindred Group share price shoots up on impromptu trading update

Kindred Group’s share price rocketed 10% in afternoon trading on Nasdaq Stockholm after the operator provided an unscheduled third quarter trading update. Kindred reported strong Q3 momentum driven by a busy sports calendar and high customer activity, resulting in all-time high active customer numbers (1.65 million) and gross winnings revenue. Q3 revenue hit £280m to mark an annual increase of 24%, but underlying EBITDA in the range of £73m-£75m provided the standout figure following an annual rise of more than 100%. The EBITDA uptick was boosted by lower marketing spend and careful management of the overall cost base as a restructuring process took place before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The level of marketing investment remained unusually low in July as a result of Covid-19 but has returned towards levels slightly below the long-term average in the second half of Q3,” said Kindred. “As a consequence, the marketing spend came in at approximately 21% of gross winnings revenue in the quarter.” Kindred Group’s full Q3 results will be published on 6 November 2020.