- COMPANY RESULTS
Catena Media has reported in its Q3 report that it has continued to see drops in figures across the board, but that there are signs of change for the future.
Between July and September, the affiliate confirmed from its earlier estimation that revenue was €10.7 million (£8.92 million / $11.52 million) which represented a 33% drop from 2023’s €15.9 million. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was down by 58% to €1.3 million from €3.2 million the previous year.
While revenue from January to September decreased from the same period in 2023 by 37% to €39.5 million.
Catena also saw new depositing customers (NDCs) drop by 32% for both Q3 and for the year-to-date with a total of 27,342 recorded for latest quarter.
Changes at Catena
On 22 October the company announced that it was going to part ways with 29 employees in line with its plan to streamline content production and marketing teams. Already though the affiliate spent 10% less on personnel expenses than it did in Q323. Catena expects these measures will save it around €2.2 million per year starting from November 2024.
As one of the bigger vocal affiliates around the loss of search ranking following the Google Core Update in May, Catena reported that it has now seen an improved trend for its assets. In its keyword search metric, the affiliate scored a 4.05 by the end of Q3 while the Google Core Update saw it tank to a 7 earlier in the year.
The affiliate also decided to not renew some of its media partnership agreements in Q3 in another way to lower its cost base. It was able to lower its total costs to €9.3 million on a steady trajectory with Q1 spending at €14.2 million and Q2 spending at €12 million.
Current reality
In his first quarter as CEO, Manuel Stan emphasised that the company’s balance sheet reflects its current reality. Despite consecutive disappointing quarters and low cash flow from operations, Stan stated in his report statement that Catena has enough cash reserves and incoming proceeds from divested assets to cover its current debt of €14.61 million.
In fact, the affiliate will receive €15 million in Q1 2025 from its divestment plan of AskGamblers to Gentoo Media (formerly GiG Media at the time of sale) as well as €3.5 million in Q4 2024 from its sale of Italian assets with another payment of €3.5 million expected in Q2 2025.
Catena’s sports activity revenue dropped by 57% year-on-year from €5.74 million to €2.46 million, with a 62% decrease for the year-to-date figure from 2023 down to €11.36 million. It provided 57% fewer NDCs to its operator partners in sport-related activities.
Casino, however only saw a 19% drop in revenue from Q323 from €10.11 million to €8.24 million, with a 13% decrease in year-to-date revenue compared to 2023. Adjusted EBITDA was the biggest negative metric for casino with Catena underperforming by 44% year-on-year from €4.79 million to €2.67 million.
“A highlight for the quarter was the evolution of Bonus.com, one of our top-performing casino products, into a global asset,” said Stan on the site which launched a Spanish-language version in Q2, a Mexican offering in Q3 and a Brazilian site in November. “These rollouts illustrate our strategy to maximise the organic growth potential of our most authoritative brands in existing and new markets.”
North America
With 89% of its assets based in North America, Catena earned €9.49 million from its almost sole region. This figure again went down year-on-year with a 29% drop from 2023’s €13.29 million. It also provided 26% fewer NDCs in the market to operators.
“We made further progress [in] incorporating social sweepstakes casino into most of our casino offerings. Social sweepstakes casino continues to form part of our long-term casino strategy, capitalising on the immediate revenue opportunity while also building our brands and databases in preparation for future regulation, especially as online casino gaming is yet to regulate in the majority of US states,” Stan added on Catena’s shift to sweepstakes in the North American market.
Improving margins
Stan also admitted that Q3 did not deliver the revenue growth the company was looking for, but that he was pleased with progress in improving margins and optimising the business.
“The steps we have taken to reduce costs, reset agreements and focus on core products give us a solid platform to build on,” he added. “As we head into Q4, we remain focused on executing our strategy and returning to profitable growth.”
The company confirmed after its latest round of changes that it has set a target of double-digit organic growth for both revenue and adjusted EBITA for 2025 and 2026.