Catena Media has released a trading update this morning, in which its financial results for January and February 2020 have been revealed.
The Stockholm-listed affiliate is expecting to enjoy further growth this year, despite the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
January and February financial figures
Compared to the same period in 2019, revenue for the first two months of 2020 was 5.7% higher. This totalled €18 million (2019: €17.1 million).
Casino, which had higher traffic than usual, was responsible for 59% of the company’s revenue. Sports betting contributed a further 35%. Meanwhile, financial services added another 5% in earnings.
For January and February, adjusted EBITDA (excluding non-recurring costs) rose by 19.9% to €8.9 million. In 2018, this figure was €7.4 million. Meanwhile, EBITDA went up by 16.6% year-on-year. The €8.6 million total had stood at €7.4 million in 2019.
Moving into March, Catena has said that casino has continued performing well.
“No foreseeable negative long-term events”
Despite Covid-19 causing the postponement of most major sporting events, the affiliate doesn’t expect this to have a lasting effect on operations.
In its trading update, Catena also suggested that “postponed events may contribute with a positive effect in the future when they are rescheduled”.
CEO Per Hellberg shared his thoughts on current affairs. These were as follows.
“The world is facing an unusual and challenging situation due to Covid-19.
“Catena Media’s largest business segment, Casino, represented 73% of EBITDA during January and February, is performing well and shows a positive development under the current circumstances.
“Several sport events have been cancelled or postponed, and it is uncertain for how long this will last, but we are holding back on costs and finding alternative revenue streams for the Sport segment.
Provided that the sports events start up after the summer break, our target remains unchanged, to reach double-digit profitable growth in 2020.”
Full Q1 2020 financial results coming soon
Catena expects to publish its full Q1 2020 financial results on 20th May.
The company released its 2019 figures last month, in which it reported full-year losses of €10.5 million. Much of this was due to asset-related impairment charges gathered between 2016 and 2018.
Revenue also went down by 2.1%, reaching €102.8 million.
