ATS acquisition drives Raketech to record revenue in Q1
Revenue for the three months to 31 March 2022 was up 53.1% year-on-year to €12.7m (£10.9m/$13.4m), compared to $8.3m in the first quarter of last year.
Raketech said growth was driven by its US sports betting operations, and the acquisition of ATS Consultants in December 2021. Organic growth of 6.8% in its network sales business helped it break its quarterly record, as did continued growth across the rest of the world and in its European casino assets.
Breaking down its revenue performance, affiliation marketing revenue was 29.6% higher at €8.2m, while network revenue jumped 23.3% to €2.4m. Betting tips and subscription revenue added a further $2.1m, with no comparable as this segment was only added to the business part-way through 2021.
Breaking down the total by vertical, casino was the primary source of revenue, with the €8.3m generated being 21.8% higher than in 2021. However, sports saw the fastest progress, with revenue rocketing 207.9% to €4.3m, and other revenue edged up 9.7% to €38,000.
Geographically, the Nordics accounted for 42.4% of all revenue in Q1, with the US at 19.3%, rest of world 33.0% and rest of Europe 5.3%.
New depositing customers (NDCs) declined 10.9% year-on-year to 35,523, though Raketech said this was a result of the business actively targeting fewer, but higher value, leads.
Turning to costs, total operating expenses were up 41.8% to €9.5m. However, such was the impact of revenue growth that operating profit doubled from €1.6m to €3.2m.
Raketech also recorded €655,000 in finance costs, leaving a pre-tax profit of €2.5m, up 108.3% on last year. The affiliate paid €295,000 in tax, but also noted €279,000 in positive currency translation adjustments, meaning it ended the quarter with €2.5m in net profit, an increase of 127.3%.
In addition, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was 58.6% higher at €5.1m.
“The first quarter of 2022 was yet another revenue record for Raketech Group, much thanks to our recent ATS acquisition that contributed with substantial and important US revenues,” Raketech chief executive Oskar Mühlbach said. “Which, during the quarter was neck and neck with Sweden as Raketech’s largest market, showcasing a growth of 380% in absolute terms year over year.
“I am furthermore pleased to see that our previous 2021 acquisitions, QM Media and Infinileads, targeting markets such as India, the south of Europe and the US continued to show growth in the span of 35-85%.”
Looking ahead Mühlbach said the business was banking on “Affiliation Cloud”, a proprietary portal that allows partners to track all links, providing further growth. Currently in the beta testing phase, the new solution is scheduled to be rolled out in full during the second half of 2022.
“This provides world class competitive commercials, automatically sorted and optimised top lists based on user data and a performance marketing media library, access to unique site performance and comparison analytics data powered by Raketech’s full portfolio of websites across the globe,” Mühlbach explained.
“To the operators the Affiliation Cloud provides easy access to a world of vetted, compliant, and high-quality affiliates, saving both time and money, while improving marketing efficiency.”