Media and Games Invest; strong nine-month figures already exceed the full year 2019 – adjusted EBIT grows by 150%

Media & Games Invest plc (“MGI” or the “Company”, ISIN: MT0000580101; Ticker M8G; Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market and Scale Segment Frankfurt Stock Exchange) exceeded expectations also in the third quarter 2020. Revenues increased by 29% to €35m and the adj. EBIT by 150% to €4m. Due to the strong performance we raised our forecast for 2020 for the second time this year at the beginning of November. We now expect revenues of up to €135m and up to €26m reported EBITDA.

HIGHLIGHTS THIRD QUARTER 2020

  • Net revenues amounted to 35.0 mEUR (Q3 2019: 27.1 mEUR), an increase of 29% compared to Q3 2019.
  • Adjusted EBITDA amounted to 6.4 mEUR (Q3 2019: 4.0 mEUR), which is an increase of 61%.
  • Adjusted EBIT increased to 4.0 mEUR (Q3 2019: 1.6 mEUR), which is an increase of 150%.
  • Leverage ratio adjusted for the net proceeds from the capital increase decreased to 2.0 as per 30 September 2020 (3.2 as per 30 June 2020).
  • Cash and cash equivalents adjusted for the capital increase amounted to 37.9 mEUR as per 30 September 2020 (15.5 mEUR as per 30 June 2020)

 

SELECTED KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, MGI GROUP

In mEUR

Q3 2020

Q3 2019

Q1 Q3 2020

Q1 Q3 2019

FY 2019

Net Revenues

35.0

27.1

91.5

55.7

83.9

YoY Growth in revenues

29%

-

64%

-

157%

EBITDA

5.9

3.9

17.5

11.5

15.5

EBITDA margins

17%

14%

19%

21%

19%

Adj. EBITDA

6.4

4.0

19.0

12.3

18.1

Adj. EBITDA margins

18%

15%

21%

22%

22%

Adj. EBIT

4.0

1.6

11.7

6.1

10.4

Adj. EBIT margins

12%

6%

13%

11%

12%

Net Result

0.3

0.1

0.7

0.9

1.3

 

A WORD FROM REMCO WESTERMANN, CEO

With an outstanding Q3 we continued our strong growth from the previous quarters and years. We were able to exceed expectations with revenues increasing by 29% to EUR 35.0 million (Q3 2019: EUR 27.2 million) and adj. EBITDA increasing by 61% to EUR 6.4 million (Q3 2019: EUR 4.0 million). Gaming continued its positive growth profile, however -as usual in the third quarter- was slightly impacted by seasonality and also the pause of the lock-down measures in Europe. A positive revenue effect for our games came from the strong inflow of new players that we realized during the corona lockdown period in Q2 2020. In the media unit, that supports the gaming segment in terms of user acquisition as well as working for external advertisers like Zynga, Innogames and Ubisoft, we saw positive EBITDA effects from integrating our latest acquisitions.

We achieved a special milestone by the end of Q3 with the acquisition of freenet Digital GmbH, which from the fourth quarter onwards will strongly boost our mobile games revenues. While we expect PC and console games to further remain our strongest revenue generators, we also see strong growth potential in mobile gaming through organic growth, a.o. by enabling part of our existing games portfolio for mobile devices and by launching newly licensed mobile games, as well as through further acquisitions. Growth in mobile will also be strongly supported by the media unit via efficient user acquisition.

Another key milestone was the listing on Nasdaq First North Premier which we combined with a capital increase. With good trading volumes, gaming affine investors and many gaming peers we have high expectations from this listing, which was already proven by our capital increase being well oversubscribed.

Our expectations for the fourth quarter of 2020 are very positive, combining the usual strong positive seasonality of Q4 with a lot of activities in the games. Next to launching Atlas Rogues there will also be several other large updates in our games. Based on our strong Q3 as well as this positive outlook for Q4 we have increased our forecast, expecting full year 2020 consolidated revenues in the range of EUR 125 to 135 million and a reported EBITDA of EUR 23 to 26 million. This would correspond to YoY revenue growth between 49% and 61% and EBITDA growth between 48% and 67%.

In the coming quarters we are planning to further accelerate our organic growth. After our repositioning from end of 2012, we first mostly drove growth via M&A, with now cumulatively well over 30 acquisitions. We are seeing positive results from this, as YTD, our organic growth in the gaming portfolio increased to 16% YoY at the end of Q3. We expect a further increase of organic growth in the coming quarters.

Overall, the company is in a very good position to continue its profitable growth track and have sufficient cash and flexibility to take advantage of M&A opportunities. We are looking forward to the next quarters and I would like to thank all partners and investors as well as our employees for their trust and enthusiasm.

Remco Westermann
Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Media and Games Invest Group

CEO Remco Westermann & CFO Paul Echt will hold an investor presentation today at 10 am CET and the presentation will also be available on-demand after the event on MGI’s website.

Link to the audiocast:
https://tv.streamfabriken.com/2020-11-30-media-and-games-invest-q3

For more information, please contact:

Sören Barz, Head of Investor Relations
Phone: +49 170 376 9571
Mail: soeren.barz@mgi.group, info@mgi.group
Web: www.mgi.group

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

Axel Mühlhaus / Dr. Sönke Knop, edicto, 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 more than 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's certified advisor on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market is FNCA Sweden AB; info@fnca.se, +46-8-528 00 399.

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Verve (Ticker: VER) is a fast-growing, profitable, digital media company that provides AI-driven ad-software solutions. Verve matches global advertiser demand with publisher ad-supply, enhancing results through first-party data from its own content. Aligned with our mission, “Let’s make media better,” the company focuses on enabling better outcomes for brands, agencies, and publishers with responsible advertising solutions, with an emphasis on emerging media channels. Verve’s main operational presence is in North America and Europe, and it is registered as a Societas Europaea in Sweden (registration number 517100-0143). Its shares are listed on the Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market in Stockholm and the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company has three secured bonds listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange Open Market. Verve's certified advisor on the Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market is FNCA Sweden AB; contact info: info@fnca.se.

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