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Evolution: Interim report January-September 2024

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Third quarter of 2024 (Q3 2023) 

  • Total operating revenues increased by 27.9% to EUR 579.0 million (452.6) whereof;
    • Net revenues increased by 14.7% to EUR 519.4 million (452.6)
    • Other operating revenues of EUR 59,7 million (0), other operating revenues are related to reduced earn-out liability.

  • EBITDA increased by 30.3% to EUR 415.3 million (318.6), corresponding to a margin of 71.7% (70.4)

  • Adjusted EBITDA (excluding Other operating revenues) increased by 11.6% to EUR 355.6 million (318.6), corresponding to a margin of 68.5% (70.4)

  • Profit for the period amounted to EUR 328.6 million (272.8) 

  • Earnings per share amounted to EUR 1.57 (1.28)

January-September 2024 (9M 2023) 

  • Total operating revenues increased by 20.1% to EUR 1,588.9 million (1,323.3) whereof;
    • Net revenues increased by 15.6% to EUR 1,529.2 million (1,323.3)
    • Other operating revenues of EUR 59,7 million (0)
       
  • EBITDA increased by 19.0% to EUR 1,106.8 million (930.5), corresponding to a margin of 69.7% (70.3)
     
  • Adjusted EBITDA (excluding Other operating revenues) increased by 12.5% to EUR 1,047.2 million (930.5), corresponding to a margin of 68.5% (70.3)
     
  • Profit for the period amounted to EUR 866.9 million (788.0)
     
  • Earnings per share amounted to EUR 4.12 (3.69)

CEO comments

For the third quarter of 2024 Evolution reports net revenues of EUR 519.4 million corresponding to a year-on-year growth of 14.7 percent and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 68.5 percent. Net revenue growth at constant currency is estimated to 19 percent for the quarter. In addition to net revenues the quarter also includes non-recurring other operating revenues of EUR 59.7 million related to reduced earn-out liability.

During the third quarter our operational development has continued at a high pace with very successful launches of new products and the opening of two new live casino studios. We are step-by-step continuing to build Evolution to capitalize on the great opportunity that online casino constitutes in the years to come. However, the quarter also presented near-term challenges and two exogeneous factors that have had a negative impact on the quarter.

Our EBITDA margin (excluding non-recurring other revenue) for Q3 comes in at 68.5 percent, which is slightly lower than anticipated three months ago. We expect margins to remain around the same level for the final quarter of the year and therefore we expect to complete the year slightly below our expectation from the beginning of 2024, of full year EBITDA margin in the 69-71 percent range.

During the summer we have faced a difficult situation in Georgia when union negotiations came to a halt after two years of dialogue. A strike was initiated in mid-July, the strike encompassed around 550 employees and had limited effect on our operational capacity. It’s important to state that Evolution fully supports the right of individuals to participate in unions and other organizations of their choice and to take part in collective bargaining. However, on August 1st a small number of union affiliated activists began to illegally block entrances, vandalize buildings, take violent actions and harass working employees, actions that disrupted our operations and forced us to down-size capacity in Georgia. The union affiliated activists have also actively spread lies and disinformation about Evolution. We are taking all legal actions available against this defamation. Currently we are operating at about 60 percent of original capacity in the studio, which is a level we will try to maintain. With a network of over 20 studios, we are able to offset lost capacity using other studios to limit the impact on our customers but overall the disruption has had a negative effect. Currently, the situation in Georgia is stable and we will continue to rebuild and increase capacity in other locations in the network over the coming quarters to be able to support future growth.

During the quarter there was also a significant increase in advanced cyber-attacks against our Asian video distribution thereby impacting our Asian revenue negatively. Evolution has successfully deployed measures to counteract these intrusions, but it has negatively impacted the third quarter. We continue to see attacks and we will continue to aggressively scale up counter measures.

On a positive note, we are beginning to see the results of our incremental improvements in the RNG offering. For the quarter year-on-year growth is 8.5 percent. We will maintain a high release pace of new exciting games across all four brands for the remainder of 2024. We also see how the benefits of OSS keeps growing for our operators with new features such as BetWithStreamer, SpinGifts and AI Slot Recommender all rolling out to the network during the coming quarters.

In the third quarter our Live Casino offering is continuing to show strong performance, although it is impacted by the events mentioned above. Growth is 16 percent year-on-year. I am happy to see how players are taking on new games like Lightning Storm and Lightning Dragon Tiger, both great additions to our home-grown Lightning-series of games. Lightning Storm is our most ambitious and advanced Game Show to date - technical ingenuity and innovative game design come together to create a fantastic playing experience. During the quarter we launched the first tables in our new studio in Colombia and in early October we opened the first tables in the Czech Republic studio. Investment in new studios will continue into 2025. Right now we are launching new studio projects in Brazil and the Philippines.

North America performs well in the quarter resulting in a year-on-year growth of 18 percent. Live Casino has developed very well throughout the year and continues to increase across all states. In RNG we have lost revenue and market share in the region during this year, but Q3 is the first quarter in which we see an increase in RNG revenue from previous year. In Europe we continue to see sound and steady performance, resulting in 11 percent growth for the quarter. Asia is impacted by the aforementioned cyber-attacks and we see a small increase in revenue compared to the previous quarter. The region continues to have vast potential for us and we are actively addressing the current issues. We anticipate an improved situation gradually during 2025. Latin America shows 9 percent growth in the third quarter. It is a region with great promise over the coming years, with Brazil regulating as a key event in 2025.

Evolution is made up of over 20,000 fantastic persons coming to work every day, ensuring that we can remain market leaders and continue to be the innovators in our space. Our aim is, and has always been, to provide a workplace that offers all our people with varied experience and background a ticket to a future career. We are proud of the workplace we offer. We have had challenges over the last period but I am very happy with how we have responded and the way in which we pushed through this quarter. We have made progress in several key projects that makes us stronger for the future. Evolution is a growing, strong, highly profitable, all-equity funded company – and our solid financial position enables us to remain focused on growth, and to invest for the future. In times when we face challenges we will work harder, find smarter solutions, and most important of all – never settle but always strive to be better every single day.

I look forward to the final months of 2024 and onwards into next year.

Presentation for investors, analysts and the media
CEO Martin Carlesund and CFO Jacob Kaplan will present the report and answer questions on Thursday, 24 October 2024 at 09:00 a.m. CEST via a telephone conference. The presentation will be in English and can also be followed online. 

 Webcast: https://ir.financialhearings.com/evolution-q3-report-2024/register 

Teleconference: https://conference.financialhearings.com/teleconference/?id=50048476 

Dial-in number to the teleconference will be received by registering on the link above. After the registration you will be provided phone numbers and a conference/user ID to access the conference. 

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 24 October 2024, 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 800+ operators among its customers. The group currently employs 20,800 people in studios across Europe, North- and South 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.

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