Online gambling operator Kindred Group announced on Wednesday that it has been granted a gaming license by the Dutch Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit, KSA).
Kindred’s flagship brand Unibet will launch its website Unibet.nl in the coming days and a Capital Markets Day will be held on September 14th.
The license allows the Kindred Group to offer online gambling under the Dutch Remote Gaming Act from 8 June 2022.
In a press release, the company explained that the KSA approval follows an extensive process to secure Kindred’s 20th local license and represents an “important step” in the group’s ambition to increase its revenue share from locally regulated markets.
Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Kindred Group, commented on winning the license: “The Netherlands is a large and important European market and a place where we are eager to operate with a local license. We have been advocating local license schemes for the last decade, and we are excited that our recently granted license in the Netherlands will allow us to deepen and develop our involvement in Dutch society, as well as actively contribute to a fair and sustainable gaming market.”
“As part of our long-term ambitions and strategy, we are looking forward to providing a safe and fun gaming experience for Dutch customers,” added Tjärnström.
Anne-Jaap Snijders, Commercial Director of Kindred Group, added to the CEO’s remarks: “We are fully committed to establishing Kindred’s role as a responsible, trusted and valuable gaming operator in the Dutch market through our flagship brand Unibet.”
“Our corporate goal of ‘transforming gaming by being a trusted source of entertainment that makes a positive contribution to society’ is at the heart of our ‘Unibet Impact’ program, which is exclusively dedicated to promoting a safer and more responsible online gaming industry. We want to transmit entertainment to Dutch society and we are very interested in bringing the joy and emotion of sport to everyone”, added the Director.
Kindred will host a Capital Markets Day (CMD) on 14 September in London, where a full introduction to the group’s long-term strategic direction and entry into the Dutch market will be given.
Senior management will present strategic areas and projects to enable growth and profitability in locally regulated markets. The company stated that more information about the CMD will be provided in the coming days.
Kindred’s licensing in the Netherlands follows what the company calls a comprehensive application process, including the successful completion of relevant audits. The ‘headwinds’ in the market, which forced Kindred to withdraw until the new license was obtained, had an impact on the company’s financial results.
In an unaudited interim report for the first quarter, Kindred reported total revenue (B2C and B2B) of £246.7 million ($307 million), down from £352.6 million ($438.7 million) in comparable period of the previous year.
Gross earnings from earnings (B2C) for the period was reduced by 31%, in part due to the departure from the Netherlands: excluding the Dutch market, gross earnings from earnings decreased comparatively by only 7%.
