Organic growth of 45% to €22.8m in Q4 helped Raketech beat its revenue forecast for 2023, with the Stockholm-listed business posting a record €77.7m total.
Tough World Cup comparables in Sweden and the Casumba earnout however provided a drag on profitability in the quarter. EBITDA tumbled 6% year-on-year to €6m on the back of the softer Swedish performance and operating profit by 36% to €2.8m due to non-cash amortisation associated with adjustments to the earnout commitments.
Raketech was finally able to reveal the total payable for the Japan-facing business it acquired in 2019 would be approximately €46.5m with €18.3m of this due in 2024 and the rest deferable in installments up to September 2026. All cashflow from Casumba will direct to Raketech from 1 August.
Revenues from traditional affiliate marketing also ‘slowed down’ in the final quarter of 2023, according to co-founder Johan Svensson, presenting the report following the surprise departure of Oskar Mühlbach last month. Revenues were €9.7m vs €10.3m in 4Q22, this 6% drop contrasting with a 227% uplift in revenues to €11.4m from its lower-margin network and SaaS segment, referred to the company as sub-affiliation.
From a geo perspective, the US contributed €2.1m in Q4 compared to €2.4m the previous year, shrinking to 8% of revenue in 2023 compared to 15% in 2022. Svensson said the organisation behind the Tipster business there had been restructured and scaled down and that Raketech expected to see positive impacts from the steps taken as they moved into the NFL season.
“The potential is still there, we now have the right competence in place, and we are seeing positive indications as activity is picking up”, he said.
The Nordics remained the most valuable region for the Nasdaq North-listed business, growing by 43% during 2023 vs. FY22. However the higher 83% growth rate of the rest of the world (RoW) region saw the Nordic share of revenues contract to 43% from 45% over the course of 2023 with the RoW portion expanding to 44% from 36% the prior year.
From a product perspective, revenues deriving from casino grew by 60% to €63.1m over the course of 2023, raising its share of the total to 81% from 71%, with sports falling to 19% from 29% in 2022.
A fourth consecutive record revenue performance for the Malta-based business pushed it to a 48% FY increase in revenue to the aforementioned €77.7m figure, with EBITDA up 18% to €17.6m. Operating profit fell by 6% to €11.7m due to increased finance costs largely attributable to Casumba.
Raketech also provided FY guidance for 2024 of EBITDA between €24-26m and free cashflow of €22-24m before the settlement of the €18.3m earnout portion for Casumba due this year. January 2024 revenues amounted to €7m.