Media and Games Invest closes FY 2020 with a record quarter and significantly exceeds its increased financial targets from November. Revenue and adj. EBITDA grow by 73% YoY and 74% YoY in Q4'20

18, February 2021 - Media and Games Invest plc ("MGI" or the "Company", ISIN: MT0000580101; Ticker: M8G; Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market and Scale Segment Frankfurt Stock Exchange) exceeds its full-year 2020 revenue and EBITDA¹ targets based on an excellent fourth quarter. The preliminary financial figures show accelerated revenue and EBITDA growth in the fourth quarter, while the first-9-month 2020 have been strong already. The actual preliminary full year 2020 revenues amount to EUR 140.2 million, which is a 67% increase versus the previous year (EUR 83.9 million) with an EUR 29.1 million adj. EBITDA², a 61% increase versus the previous year (EUR 18.1 million).

The previously in November 2020 communicated upper target range of the Guidance, which was already increased verus initial Guidance has been outperformed by EUR 5.2 million in terms of revenues and EUR 3.1 million in terms of adj. EBITDA. In comparison with the analyst Consensus Data the outperformance is EUR 8.3 million for the revenues and EUR 4.2 million in terms of adj. EBITDA. Based on the mean of initial targets for 2020 (revenue: EUR 115-125 million; EBITDA: EUR 20-23 million) MGI outperformed its revenue-target by 16.8 percent and its EBITDA-target by 35.3 percent. The strong revenues and EBITDA result from positive developments of the gaming- as well as the media business in Q4'20. With this very strong year MGI has now outperformed with 67% the revenue CAGR of 45% of the last 6 years.
 

HIGHLIGHTS FOURTH QUARTER 2020

• Net revenues amounted to 48.7 mEUR (Q4'19: 28.2 mEUR), which is an increase of 73% compared to 2019.
   
• Adjusted EBITDA amounted to 10.1 mEUR (Q4'19: 5.8 mEUR), which is an increase of 74%.
   
• Adjusted EBIT amounted to 5.8 mEUR (Q4'19: 3.6 mEUR), which is an increase of 64%.
   
• Net result amounted to 2.0 mEUR (Q4'19: 0.3 mEUR), which is an increase of 534%.
   

HIGHLIGHTS FULL YEAR 2020

• Net revenues amounted to 140.2 mEUR (FY'19: 83.9 mEUR), which is an increase of 67% compared to 2019.
   
• Adjusted EBITDA amounted to 29.1 mEUR (FY'19: 18.1 mEUR), which is an increase of 61%.
   
• Adjusted EBIT³ developed strong and increased to 17.5 mEUR (FY'19: 10.5 mEUR), which is an increase of 67%.
   
• Net result for 2020 amounted to 2.7 mEUR (FY'19: 1.3 mEUR) and increased as a result of the overall increased profitability of the group which was mitigated by increased financial expenses for future organic and M&A growth which on the other hand provide a strong cash position on the balance sheet.
   
• The equity ratio⁴ was 46% as of December 31, 2020 (December 31, 2019: 54%) and remained strong while the equity ratio decreased due to bond issues and expanded operations of the group.
   
• Cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2020 amounted to 46.3 mEUR (December 31, 2019: 33.0 mEUR).
   
• Net interest-bearing debt⁵ as of December 31, 2020 amounted to 61.6 mEUR (December 31, 2019: 34.9 mEUR).
   
• Interest coverage ratio⁶ 2020 was 4.1 compared to 3.1 in 2019 and therefore increased strongly as the operating profitability increased in line with the revenue growth.
   
• The leverage ratio⁷ amounted to 2.1 as per 31 December 2020 (1.9 as of December 31, 2019) and remained conservative despite 3 M&A transactions and the gamigo minority buyout during 2020. This was achieved by the Company through a strong increase in profitability in combination with an equity raise. MGI ended up on the lower end of its net leverage ratio target of 2-3x.
   

SELECTED KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, MGI Group

In mEUR	MGI Group Q4 2020	MGI Group Q4 2019	MGI Group FY 2020		MGI Group FY 2019
Net Revenues	48.7	28.2	140.2		83.9
YoY Growth in revenues	73%	-	67%		-
Adj. EBITDA	10.1	5.8	29.1		18.1
Adj. EBITDA margins	21%	21%	21%		22%
EBITDA	9.0	4.1	26.5		15.5
EBITDA margins	19%	14%	19%		19%
Adj. EBIT	5.8	3.6	17.5		10.5
Adj. EBIT margins	12%	13%	12%		13%
Net Result	2.0	0.3	2.7		1.3

 

In mEUR	FY2020 (A)	Consensus	Actuals vs Consensus		FY 2020 Updated Guidance	Actual vs Updated FY'20 Guidance		Initial Guidance	Actual vs. FY'20 Initial Guidance
Net Revenues	140,2	131,9	+8,3	+6%	125-135	+10.2	+8%	115-125	+20.2	+17%
Adj. EBITDA	29,1	24,9	+4,2	+17%	23-26	+4.6	+19%	20-23	+7.6	+35%

 

_{All financials are preliminary and neither reviewed nor audited. MGI expects to publish its unaudited Year-End-Report on 25 February 2021.}

Remco Westermann, CEO & Chairman of the Board of MGI Group: "We ended 2020 with yet another record quarter Revenue- and EBITDA-wise, supported by consequent continuation of our "buy, integrate, build and improve"-strategy, with a well-balanced games portfolio strongly backed by our media unit. In total, we reported in the fourth quarter EUR 48.7 million revenues, a 73 percent growth versus Q4 last year together with an adjusted EBITDA of EUR 10 million, which is a 74 percent growth versus last year. Our financial development for the full year 2020 was also very strong, outperforming our latest forecast substantially. With revenues of EUR 140.2 million -a yoy growth tof 67 percent- and a high profitability with an adjusted EBITDA of EUR 29 million -a yoy growth of 61%- we were able to show a continuation of our strong performance in the previous years.

We also expect 2021 to become a further strong year. We have numerous organic growth projects in the pipeline, and have already announced the licensing of two new mobile games. Also for our current strong game portfolio we expect further growth, eg. for Trove, which is one of our top games, we create further growth opportunities through internationalisation and platform extensions. A similar strategy will be applied to Wizard101 and Pirate101, two very strong game IPs that we acquired as part of the KingsIsle transaction in January 2021 as well as for several other games.

Furthermore, MGI's media unit "Verve Group" gives MGI's games unit a strong competitive advantage in efficient user acquisition while it is also emerging as a significant player in the global media sector. Verve Group is facing rapid organic growth in all major advertising formats worldwide, but especially in the mobile games sector. Based on management, Verve 's Open Exchange is now among the top 20 programmatic marketplaces worldwide. MGI's sector focus is also reflected in the media unit's strong customer base, which consists of several major games companies such as Zynga and King.

All in all, 2020 was an outstanding year for MGI, with a strong start into 2021 where we closed already two further M&A transactions. Also in the coming months we expect further organic growth from new game launches as well as internationalization, increased user acquisition and content extensions in our current massive multiplayer portfolio as well as further in the games and media segments."
 

Notes - All Notes are defined as in the latest financial report (Q3 2020) of MGI
_{Note (1) EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
Note (2) Adjusted EBITDA: Reported EBITDA excluding one-time costs.
Note (3) Adjusted EBIT: Earnings before interest and taxes excluding one-time costs and PPA depreciation.
Note (4) Equity ratio: Equity as a percentage of total assets.
Note (5) Net interest bearing debt: Interest bearing Financial Indebtedness excluding Shareholder and Related Party Loans minus Cash and Cash Equivalents.
Note (6) Interest coverage ratio: Adj. EBITDA divided by net financial items for the relevant period.
Note (7) Net leverage ratio: Net Interest Bearing Debt divided by adjusted EBITDA for the past 12 months excluding Shareholder Loans.}

For further information, please contact:

Remco Westermann
Chairman of the Board and CEO
+49 40 411 885206

Sören Barz
Leiter Investor Relations
+49 170 376 9571
soeren.barz@mgi.group, info@mgi.group
www.mgi.group

Jenny Rosberg, ROPA, IR contact Stockholm
Phone: +46707472741
Mail: Jenny.rosberg@ropa.se

Axel Mühlhaus / Dr. Sönke Knop, edicto GmbH, IR contact Frankfurt
Phone: +49 69 9055 05 51
Mail: mgi@edicto.de
 

About Media and Games Invest plc

Media and Games Invest plc (MGI), is a fast-growing and profitable company operating in the digital games sector with a strong supportive media unit and a focus on North America & EMEA. The company combines organic growth with value-accretive acquisitions, delivering strong and sustainable earnings growth. Since 2014 the MGI Group has successfully acquired well over 30 companies and assets which are integrated onto our platform, exploiting efficiency-enhancing technologies such as the cloud. The Company's shares are listed on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market in Stockholm and the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The Company also has a bond listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Open Market.

The Company's certified advisor on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market is FNCA Sweden AB; info@fnca.se, +46-8-528 00 399.

Important information

This release does not constitute an offer, or a solicitation of any offer, to buy or subscribe for any securities in MGI in any jurisdiction, neither from MGI nor from someone else.

This release does not constitute or form part of an offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States. The securities referred to herein may not be sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. There is no intention to register any securities referred to herein in the United States or to make a public offering of the securities in the United States. The information in this release may not be announced, published, copied, reproduced or distributed, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, within or into Unites States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland or in any other jurisdiction where such announcement, publication or distribution of the information would not comply with applicable laws and regulations or where such actions are subject to legal restrictions or would require additional registration or other measures than what is required under applicable EU law. Actions taken in violation of this instruction may constitute a crime against applicable securities laws and regulations.

Forward-looking statements

This release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's intentions, beliefs, or current expectations about and targets for the Company's and the group's future results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, anticipated growth, strategies and opportunities and the markets in which the Company and the group operates. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "may", "plan", "estimate", "will", "should", "could", "aim" or "might", or, in each case, their negative, or similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that they will materialize or prove to be correct. Because these statements are based on assumptions or estimates and are subject to risks and uncertainties, the actual results or outcome could differ materially from those set out in the forward-looking statements as a result of many factors. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this release by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not guarantee that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements in this release are free from errors and readers of this release should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this release. The information, opinions and forward-looking statements that are expressly or implicitly contained herein speak only as of its date and are subject to change without notice. Neither the Company nor anyone else undertake to review, update, confirm or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that arise in relation to the content of this release, unless it is so required by law or applicable stock exchange rules.