Catena enjoys record quarter as key financials rise

Catena Media has announced its best-ever financial quarterly performance after achieving year-on-year growth across key financials during the three months to September 30.

Revenue in the third quarter amounted to €17.3m ($19.9m), up 61% on the corresponding period last year and 15% on the second quarter of this year.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) climbed from €4.9m in Q3 of 2016 to €8.8m in the same quarter this year, while EBITDA margin also increased from 46% to 51%.

Elsewhere, operating profit jumped from €4.7m to €7.6m, with a margin of 44%, while adjusted operating profit, excluding non-recurring costs related to the change of listing on NASDAQ Stockholm and reorganisation costs, amounted to €8.3m, compared to €5.68m last year.

Earnings per share before dilution for the quarter amounted to €0.103, up from €0.076, while earnings per share after dilution climbed from €0.076 to €0.101.

As a result of the record quarter, revenue for the nine months through to the end of September amounted to €47.6m, compared to €27.8m at the same point last year.

EBITDA was also up from €13.6m to €22.3, while operating profit climbed from €12.9m to €19.6m.

Henrik Persson Ekdahl, acting chief executive of Catena, said: “Our key growth indicator is the number of NDCs, in other words, the delivery of new customers to our business partners.

“For the first time we have delivered a six-digit number, with a total of 100,741; this is a 10% increase compared with Q2 and up 79%, year-on-year.

“The strong growth in NDCs demonstrates the success of our business model.”

Confirmation of the record quarterly financial performance comes after Catena last week acquired online poker news and traffic comparison website PokerScout.com and related assets, in connection with the passage of gaming legislation in the US state of Pennsylvania.

Ekdahl added: “One of the opportunities for 2018 is the opening of Pennsylvania as a regulated state for online gambling.

“Catena Media expects a gradual development of the Pennsylvania business and to be live within nine or 12 months.

“We also have very strong domains like PlayUSA.com, PlayPennsylvania.com and USPoker.com.

“Following this opening, Catena Media will continue to strengthen its presence on the US market in line with the company’s growth strategy.”

Related article: Catena prepares for Pennsylvania with new acquisition