Evolution: Interim report January-September 2023

Third quarter of 2023 (Q3 2022)

• Operating revenues increased by 19.6% to EUR 452.6 million (378.5)
• EBITDA increased by 22.1% to EUR 318.6 million (261.0), corresponding to a margin of 70.4% (69.0)
• Profit for the period amounted to EUR 272.8 million (221.3)
• Earnings per share amounted to EUR 1.28 (1.04)

January-September 2023 (9M 2022)

• Operating revenues increased by 26.1% to EUR 1,323.3 million (1,049.3)
• EBITDA increased by 27.6% to EUR 930.5 million (728.9), corresponding to a margin of 70.3% (69.5)
• Profit for the period amounted to EUR 788.0 million (619.9)
• Earnings per share amounted to EUR 3.69 (2.91)

CEO comments

In the third quarter, Evolution reports revenue of EUR 452.6 million and EBITDA amounting to EUR 318.6 million, corresponding to almost 20 percent top-line growth and 70.4 percent EBITDA margin. This is a good financial performance and the underlying growth drivers for the business remains solid. During the third quarter we released more games than during any earlier quarter. A strong development that I am pleased with as entertaining games and a flawless player experience are the absolute most important factors for our long-term success.

Our Live Casino revenue grew to EUR 385.8 million for the quarter and we see a higher demand for our product than what we currently can deliver. That is a measure of the phenomenal traction our games have. However, it also means we are not expanding our studios at the right pace. However, it also means we are not expanding our studios at the right pace. We have faced delays, and in some cases not executed fully, in several of our planned studio projects for this year but even more importantly we need to increase the pace of recruitment both in existing studios as well as to support new studios. We are working hard to get back on track in our existing locations and we will continue to invest in our network of studios and add new locations. We opened a smaller studio in Colombia just after the end of the third quarter. We plan to open one new studio in Europe later this year and 3-4 next year in Europe, North America and LatAm.

RNG revenues amounted to EUR 66.8 million and declined 1.9 percent compared to the corresponding quarter last year. Despite the step back in year-on-year growth it was a quarter when we made progress in our RNG operations. Our release pace is now where we want it to be and all new games are from the third quarter on OSS (One Stop Shop). We are methodically and systematically moving our RNG business forward. Our earlier communicated goal for RNG growth remains but at the moment we focus on showing step-by-step improvements.

We are focused on factors that are within our control when explaining our financial result. However, this quarter the impact from external factors such as currency effects are more significant than ever. The strengthening of the Euro against most currencies has affected our top line growth negatively during this year. Players deposit and play in many different currencies with our operators, the resulting GGR is converted to Euro which is the base for our invoicing. In the third quarter we estimate 6-8 percentage points negative headwind on revenue growth from currency effects when comparing revenues to the same quarter last year.

The group EBITDA margin is 70.4 percent during the third quarter. We maintain our guidance of 68-71 percent EBITDA margin for the year. Coming into the final quarter of the year I do expect us to be in the upper end of that interval even with a full focus on expansion.

Our ability to deliver new and exciting player experiences is one of our main competitive advantages and I am pleased to say that we are on track to exceed our plan of more than 100 games released in 2023. In the third quarter we released 28 RNG titles and 8 Live games. We have had a continued strong development of our disco themed Funky Time which launched this spring, adding new dimensions to our popular Game Show portfolio. At the G2E show earlier in October we presented two new releases: Red Door Roulette — an innovative mash-up of Crazy Time and Lightning Roulette — and Video Poker, a Live Casino game offering the ultimate fusion of nostalgia and player-focused modern gaming technology. We also released many new and exciting slots, some of my personal favorites this quarter are The Crypt from Nolimit City and Max Megaways 2 from BTG. As stated, 2023 will be backend loaded in terms of releases both for Live and RNG and I am excited about what the last months of this year will bring from a product perspective.

North America is a region that we expect to develop over many years as more US states regulate. The online casino market is still in an early stage of development. We continue to see growth for our Live product quarter to quarter in the existing states, while we in the past quarter take a step back in our RNG revenue compared to the second quarter. Together this results in a 9 percent growth in North America compared to same period last year but a slightly lower revenue in the third quarter compared to the second quarter. Asia and Latin America both grow 35 and 39 percent respectively from last year and Europe shows a steady 10 percent increase. The growth compared to third quarter of last year is organic in all regions as the latest acquisitions were included in the group then.

In summary, the underlying growth drivers remain unchanged. We face a tougher macro climate today than one year ago and we are underserving the market at the moment, but we will continue to invest, optimize recruitment and, as always, push for growth through focus on product innovation. Our financial strength will continue to serve us well as we can continue to invest without interruption and grow. We remain committed to delivering new thrilling experiences to new and existing players and continue to strive to be just a little better every day. I look forward to the final months of the year and onwards into 2024.

Presentation for investors, analysts and the media
CEO Martin Carlesund and CFO Jacob Kaplan will present the report and answer questions on Thursday, 26 October 2023 at 09:00 a.m. CET via a telephone conference. The presentation will be in English and can also be followed online. Dial-in number to the teleconference will be received by registering on the link below. After the registration you will be provided phone numbers and a conference/user ID to access the conference. https://conference.financialhearings.com/teleconference/?id=5008323

Follow the presentation at: https://ir.financialhearings.com/evolution-q3-2023

For further information, please contact:
Jacob Kaplan, CFO, ir@evolution.com.

This information is such that Evolution AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the contact person set out above on 26 October 2023, at 07:30 am CET.
 

Evolution AB (publ) (”Evolution”) develops, produces, markets and licenses fully-integrated B2B Online Casino solutions to gaming operators. Since its inception in 2006, Evolution has developed into a leading B2B provider with 700+ operators among its customers. The group currently employs 17,800+ people in studios across Europe and in North America. The parent company is based in Sweden and listed on Nasdaq Stockholm with the ticker EVO. Visit www.evolution.com for more information.

Evolution is licensed and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority under license MGA/B2B/187/2010. Evolution is also licensed and regulated in many other jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Romania, South Africa, and others.