Catena Media revenue climbs 9% in Q2 despite casino segment decrease
US igaming revenue rise of 37% cannot prevent overall 1% casino downturn in second quarter as share price falls 12%
Catena Media has reported a 9% year on year revenue rise to €30.4m ($35.7m) for Q2 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA for the period came in flat at 1% at €14.9m, corresponding to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 49%.
New depositing customers (NDCs) totaled 140,025 in Q2 to mark an increase of 34%.
“This outcome represents a notable achievement considering the one-off spike in casino gaming seen in the second quarter of 2020, when Covid-related lockdowns sparked an unprecedented surge in consumer interest and player activity,” said Catena Media CEO Michael Daly.
Overall casino revenue decreased by 1% to €21.1m during a difficult comparative period, equalling 69% of Catena’s total revenue for Q2.
Catena said the slide was driven by the common challenge of seasonality, combined with the relaxation of Covid restrictions.
This resulted in fewer online sessions as people shifted their leisure spend to outdoor pursuits.
It was a different story for the affiliate’s sports betting segment however, where revenue climbed 69% year on year to €8.3m, or 28% of total revenue for the period.
In the US, the return of sports events this year helped drive revenue growth in the quarter, further aided by the opening of the Virginia and Michigan markets for sports betting earlier in 2021, as well as igaming in Michigan.
Indeed, most of Catena Media’s Q2 report was focussed on the US, where revenue in igaming rose by 37% annually and accounted for 41% of overall group revenue.
“Among the highlights was North America, where Q2 traditionally brings a dip in sports betting coinciding with the end of the major sports seasons,” said Daly.
“This year we offset this seasonal lull with strong growth in the casino segment.
“Michigan state, which opened for online gaming in January, exceeded our expectations and highlighted the business value we can create from establishing strong footholds in the casino segment as well as in sports,” he added.
During the quarter, Catena Media increased its investment in product positioning and keyword and search optimization to prepare for the resumption of the US sporting calendar in Q3.
The Malta-based affiliate’s $40m acquisition of Lineups in May gave the firm a second national B2C sports betting website alongside its proprietary product TheLines.
Lineups has so far performed in line with expectations according to the company, although is expected to pick up significantly from September when the NFL returns and user activity surges.
Catena Media said Lineups has started to benefit from cross-sharing and selling between its website and TheLines, which should lead to an increase in traffic to both products once US sport returns.
Catena Media’s share price dropped by more than 12% in early trading on the Nasdaq Stockholm.