Catena continues to evaluate sale options as strategic review extended

Launched in May this year, in response to third parties taking an interest in acquiring certain assets, the review is looking at the possibility of Catena selling a number of its divisions including its AskGamblers brand.

The review was expanded in August to cover its entire European online betting and casino business. As part of the review, Catena had already entered into a consultation process related to redundancies in the UK and Malta.

Catena originally stated that the review would be completed by September. However, in an update published today (7 October), the group said that while it expects to finish the review “in the near future”, it cannot give a specific end-date at this point.

The group added that it is still looking at a number of options for certain parts of its business and that it will communicate the results of the review as soon as the process has been completed.

“The focus remains on ensuring that the company is well positioned to fully capture the opportunities on offer in North America and other high growth markets as it seeks to maximise value for shareholders,” Catena said.

In August, Catena revealed it took steps to reduce expenditures and scaled back strategic investments during the second quarter, as a sharp deterioration in global economic conditions impacted trading in multiple markets.

Catena said the global economic situation had dented performance in parts of its online sports betting and casino operations, just as the group had taken on extra costs to support new market launches and product upgrades.

To offset this, Catena reduced strategic investments from planned levels and while it did note an initial effect of these measures in Q2, it was insufficient to compensate for the full impact of lower margins.

Revenue in the three months to 30 June 2022 amounted to €28.9m, down 4.9% from €30.4m in the second quarter of the group’s 2021 financial year.