Revenue up 72% but M&A costs hit Bragg bottom line in Q3

Bragg made €6.6m from games and content, up 72.9%. It made a further €4.3m from software platform licensing, up 78.6%.

The business earned a further €371,000 through management services, up 7.5% and €444,000 from other sources, an 82.4% increase.

The vast majority of Bragg’s revenue – €7.4m, up 102.2% – came from its Malta-licensed activities. A further €2.0m came from operations licensed in Curaçao, up 64.9%.

Revenue from Croatia grew 42.4% to €457,000, but revenue from Germany was down 58.8% to €330,000.

The rest of the world brought in €1.4m in revenue, up 87.6%.

The business said it took on 14 new clients during the quarter, which was a major reason for the revenue growth.

“We’ve made extraordinary progress in 2020 and are very pleased with the substantial growth that we’ve delivered,” Adam Arviv, interim Bragg chief executive said. “We continue to expand globally, enhancing our content portfolio and technology offering, and securing new customers across key geographies.”

Arviv replaced Dominic Mansour, who stepped down as chief executive when the business announced its first half results.

Bragg then paid €6.6m in third-party content costs, 70.9% more than in 2019, resulting in a gross profit of €5.1m, up 73.4%.

The business incurred a further €4.2m in general and administrative expenses, up 22.7%. The largest single cost was employee expenses, but these fell 11.5% to €2.6m. Depreciation and amortisation costs followed at €749,000, up 39.2%, while bad debt write-offs contributed €408,000 of these costs, and IT and hosting €385,000.

After these costs – plus a €3.1m loss on remeasurement of consideration costs related to the sale of its GiveMeSport media site and the acquisition of slot developer and solutions provider Oryx Gaming – Bragg made an operating loss of €2.3m, almost 40 times its loss in 2019.

Earlier this month, the operator announced that it will make an earn-out payment of 47m shares worth €22m as part of the Oryx purchase. This will be paid by 31 January, 2021.

After a net financial loss of €330,000, Bragg’s pre-tax loss came to €2.6m, again close to 40 times the amount it lost a year prior.

After paying €544,000 in income tax, Bragg’s net loss came to €3.2m, up from its €214,000 loss in Q3 2019. After adjusting for currency exchange, it posted a net loss of €3.0m for the quarter.

Looking forward, Arviv said investors have already shown confidence in himself and Richard Carter, who was announced as Bragg’s new  chairman last month.

“We’re particularly pleased with the confidence that investors have demonstrated in our 2021 strategy and enhanced leadership team,”  Arviv said. “Richard Carter and I have taken active leadership roles within Bragg to ensure the future success of the company. 

“Our partnership represents alignment to move our global strategy forward and our extensive networks and personal reputations within the U.S. gaming market will add tremendous value for Bragg shareholders.”

He added that the business hoped to build its client base in North America next year.

“We continue to expand throughout Europe and Latin America and are focused on expanding our presence and establishing new partnerships in the North American market in 2021,” Arviv said.