Year-end report and interim report for the period 1 October 2022 – 31 December 2022

published at 08:00 on 28 February 2023

Wicket Gaming AB (”Wicket Gaming” or the ”Company”) publishes interim report for the period 1 October 2022 – 31 December 2023.

Summary of the period

The Group arose during the fourth quarter, and consequently no comparison is made with the corresponding period in the previous year. The information for the period 01/01/2022 – 31/12/2022 includes the whole year for the Parent Company and the fourth quarter for the Group.

Fourth quarter 01/10/2022 – 31/12/2022 (Group)

• Net sales: SEK 6,883 thousand.
• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA): SEK -1,274 thousand.
• Net loss after financial items: SEK -4,711 thousand.
• Earnings per share: SEK -0.60 before dilution and SEK -0.55 after dilution.
• Investments during the period amounted to SEK -21,636 thousand.
• Cash flow for the period amounted to SEK -11,317 thousand.

Twelve months 01/01/2022 – 31/12/2022 (Group)

• Net sales: SEK 6,888 thousand.
• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA): SEK -11,381 thousand.
• Net loss after financial items: SEK -15,551 thousand.
• Earnings per share: SEK -2.00 before dilution and SEK -1.83 after dilution.
• Investments during the period amounted to SEK -32,988 thousand.
• Cash flow for the period amounted to SEK -2,089 thousand.

Fourth quarter 01/10/2022 – 31/12/2022 (Parent Company)

• Net sales: SEK 2 thousand (0).
• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA): SEK -1,171 thousand (-2,646).
• Net loss after financial items: SEK -1,825 thousand (-2,648).
• Earnings per share: SEK -0.23 (-0.46) before dilution and SEK -0.21 (-0.45) after dilution.
• Investments during the period amounted to SEK -21,188 thousand (-3,945).
• Cash flow for the period amounted to SEK -14,546 thousand.

Twelve months 01/01/2022 – 31/12/2022 (Parent Company)

• Net sales: SEK 7 thousand (1).
• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA): SEK -11,279 thousand (-8,166).
• Net loss after financial items: SEK -12,665 thousand (-8,221).
• Earnings per share: SEK -1.63 (-1.45) before dilution and SEK -1.49 (-1.42) after dilution.
• Investments during the period amounted to SEK -32,547 thousand (-8,134).
• Cash flow for the period amounted to SEK -6,073 thousand.

CEO STATEMENT

2023 is the year in which Wicket Gaming will take the next step on its global growth journey, doing so as a gaming and edtech group with 30 employees. Together, we will create a company that takes market shares in the rapidly growing markets in which we now operate – virtual education products and mobile games. The aim of the work performed during the fourth quarter has been to lay the foundation for this journey and create the right conditions for success.

“Q4 2022 – Wicket Gaming achieves important milestones”

Wicket Gaming achieved a number of important milestones during the fourth quarter of 2022.

The free-to-play mobile game Idle King was acquired in December. The game is a casual strategy game set against a medieval backdrop. Since the test launch of Idle King, the game has been downloaded 450,000 times and has received a high rating at both Apple App Store and Google Play. With a rating of 4.5, the game has achieved the status “Featured” at Apple App Store.

Since our acquisition of this top-end game, we have changed the name of the game to King Royale and will release it globally under Wicket Gaming’s own brand during March 2023. To support the launch, influencer marketing activities are being activated with the help of Wehype and “paid marketing” through Facebook and Google ads. The KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that King Royale has achieved during the test launch are well worth a mention. A “Day 1 retention” – in other words, the number of unique users who have returned to the app the day after installation/opening – of 36% places the game in the very best performing category. Furthermore, the game has an ARPDAU (Average revenue per daily user) of USD 0.10 and an ROI of 33%. These are all extremely good KPIs. From Wicket Gaming’s perspective, we are greatly looking forward to launching two strong game titles – King Royale and Cricket Manager Pro – globally.

Another important milestone during the quarter was the completion of the acquisition of the German Wegesrand Group and the integration of Wegesrand as part of Wicket Gaming. Wegesrand will henceforth go by the name Wicket Media GmbH. Wicket Media GmbH is a wholly owned German subsidiary which in turn owns all our German companies. The accounts have been consolidated in our books, and a common organisation and governance have been formed as we proceed into 2023.

The Wicket Gaming Group had a turnover of SEK 6.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2022. Wegesrand (the edtech segment) has grown organically by 24% in the space of a year, with a turnover of approximately SEK 26.5 million. It is our intention to invest even more resources in our edtech segment, where we see tremendous growth potential. It is apparent to us that there is a ready market for the Serious Games and Playful Learning segments, and we intend to take our market shares in all segments. According to Grand View Research, the edtech market is currently worth 127 billion dollars and is expected to grow to around 430 billion dollars by 2030.

The Wegesrand Group represents our first acquisition, and we want to carry out more strategic acquisitions in the future, although we are of course fully aware that the general financial climate is not entirely optimal at present. However, we look forward to 2023 with a sense of confidence and positivity.

“Q1 2023 – global launch”

Having finally achieved the release of Cricket Manager Pro represents an important milestone for us, as the release follows a series of delays due to technical challenges, in particular in India, and the implementation of improved functionalities based on user feedback. Having now reached this point in our journey, we intend to establish and enhance our position in the global cricket arena. Naturally we intend to fully utilise our cricket stars AB de Villiers, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, who together have no less than 100 million followers on their social media platforms, in order to reach as large a user base as possible. All planned marketing activities are being implemented with the aim of maximising the number of downloads.

We are currently in the midst of a process involving a rights issue, and naturally we hope that our existing shareholders realise Wicket Gaming’s future potential and will therefore choose to subscribe. In the prospectus we recently published, we have explained why the rights issue is necessary in Wicket Gaming’s current phase of development. We must ensure the availability of the resources that are necessary to enable us to effectively invest

For further information, please contact:

Eric De Basso, CEO, Wicket Gaming AB
Email: eric@wicketgaming.com  
Phone: +46 70 780 52 00

This information is information that Wicket Gaming AB is obligated to publish pursuant to the EU’s market abuse regulation. The information was provided under the auspices of the above contact person (CEO), for publication on 28/02/2023 at 08:00.

About Wicket Gaming
Wicket Gaming is a Swedish game development company that was founded in 2015. The Company’s business idea is based on developing and distributing free-to-play games in the sports genre based on proprietary brands. Since the start of operations, the Company has worked on the development of its first title, Cricket Manager, a cricket manager game for mobile devices in which players create and own their own cricket club and compete against other players across the globe. The aim is to create one of the world’s most popular cricket manager games for mobile devices and to use a technical platform to expand the game portfolio to include other sport manager games.

For more information, please see Wicket Gaming’s website: www.wicketgaming.com.