Catena Media’s full-year operating profit plunges 91% despite revenue rise
Affiliate giant posts 28% increase in revenue as North American market continues to be the engine of growth
Catena Media has blamed a one-off €49.4m (£41.2m) impairment charge relating to the German and French markets in Q3 as the primary reason for full-year (FY) operating profit tumbling 91% year-on-year (YoY) from €38.5m to €3.5m.
The €49.4m charge represented 37% of the Malta-based affiliate’s total operating costs of €132.7m.
The Stockholm-listed firm posted FY revenue of €136m for 2021, is an increase of 28% on the €106m for the comparative 12 months in 2020.
This was aided by Q4 operating revenue of €31.9m, which was up 20% YoY on Q4 2020.
Elsewhere, EBITDA in the fourth quarter rose 4% to €12.8m from €12.3m in 2020, which translated to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 40%.
The company said this margin, which was down from 46% in Q4 2020, reflected growth investments of €2.5m in North America, central technology and European casino products.
Furthermore, new depositing customers (NDCs) climbed 8% to 135,250, while the total for the whole of last year jumped 32% to 586,522.
Casino was Catena Media’s strongest vertical, generating almost €20m in 2021 Q4 (€86.2m for the year) with sports FY amounting to €11.1m (€46.3m) and financial trading at €876,000 (€3.7m).
North America, where the firm operates sites such as Legal Sports Report and PlayUSA, was pinpointed as an obvious area for future growth having seen a Q4 increase of 98% on sports betting and casino in the region compared to 2020.
The region accounted for just over half (51%) of group revenue compared with 31% in 2020.
CEO Michael Daly also noted that a strong start to Q1 2022 had been attributable to the launches of legal online betting in New York and Louisiana.
He said: “The final quarter of 2021 capped a memorable year for Catena Media.
“After an eventful nine months that brought multiple US state openings and two major acquisitions, we focused in Q4 on accelerating investment into our long-term growth plans and on preparing for future market launches in North America in 2022.
“We did so while recording a solid financial performance headlined by a 20% rise in group revenue and a 4% increase in adjusted EBITDA,” he added.
Looking at the start of 2020, Catena Media said total revenue increased 29% (36% excluding Germany) YoY in January, while North America revenue surged 64% after launches in New York and Louisiana.
FY 2022 revenue from North America will surpass $100m based on current estimates and the timetable for state launches, the firm added.
At the time of writing, Catena Media’s share price was down 7.% at SEK44.27.