Remedy Entertainment Plc: Strong year with new partnerships and game launches

Fri, Feb 11, 2022 08:00 CET

Remedy Entertainment Plc | Company announcement 09:00 am (EET) 11 February 2022
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS RELEASE 1 January – 31 December 2021 (audited)

Strong year with new partnerships and game launches

Excellent visibility to games roadmap

HIGHLIGHTS FROM OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2021

Revenue was 19 796 (14 201) thousand euros and increased +39.4 % year on year.
Operating profit (EBIT) was 11 262 (6 640) thousand euros. Operating profit margin was 56.9 % (46.8 %).
Alan Wake Remastered was launched.
Crossfire HD single-player story mode launched in China.
Alan Wake 2 was announced and will be published by Epic Games Publishing in 2023.
Remedy Entertainment signed a global development, license and distribution agreement with Tencent for the co-operative multiplayer game codenamed Vanguard.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM JANUARY–DECEMBER 2021

Revenue was 44 726 (41 086) thousand euros and increased +8.9 % year on year.
Operating profit (EBIT) 14 708 (13 245) thousand euros. Operating profit margin was 32.9 % (32.2 %).
In February, Remedy raised 41 500 thousand euros through a directed offering of new shares to a limited number of domestic and international institutional investors in an accelerated book-building process.
In February, Control Ultimate Edition was released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
In June, Remedy signed a co-publishing and development agreement with 505 Games for a multiplayer spin-off game of the award-winning Control. Collaboration terms for a future, bigger-budget Control-game (codename Heron) were also agreed.
In October, Alan Wake Remastered was launched.
In November, the Crossfire HD single-player story mode launched in China.
In December Alan Wake 2 was announced and will be published by Epic Games Publishing in 2023.
In December Remedy Entertainment signed a global development, license and distribution agreement with Tencent for the co-operative multiplayer game codenamed Vanguard.
Increasing presence in Stockholm with the plan to establish a new studio in the city in 2022.
Board of Directors proposes a dividend of 0.17 (0.15) euros per share.

KEY FIGURES

FAS, audited EUR thousand	10–12/21	10–12/20	7–12/21	7–12/20	1-12/21	1-12/20
Revenue	19,796	14,201	27,193	24,115	44,726	41,086
Growth in revenue, %	39.4 %	4.1 %	12.8 %	35.1 %	8.9 %	29.8 %
EBITDA	11,589	6,958	12,186	10,653	15,913	14,313
Operating profit (EBIT)	11,262	6,640	11,552	10,084	14,708	13,245
Operating profit, % of revenue	56.9 %	46.8 %	42.5 %	41.8 %	32.9 %	32.2 %
Result for review period	8,989	5,210	9,130	7,837	10,777	10,337
Result for review period, % of revenue	45.4 %	36.7 %	33.6 %	32.5 %	24.1 %	25.2 %
Balance sheet total	99,901	48,355	99,901	48,355	99,901	48,355
Cash flow from operations	-2,394	3,004	2,157	10,643	5,182	11,806
Net cash	48,629	20,016	48,629	20,016	48,629	20,016
Cash position	51,384	23,690	51,384	23,690	51,384	23,690
Net gearing, %	-55.7 %	-56.6 %	-55.7 %	-56.6 %	-55.7 %	-56.6 %
Equity ratio, %	87.4 %	73.2 %	87.4 %	73.2 %	87.4 %	73.2 %
Capital expenditures	2,296	2,346	5,018	3,712	9,602	6,346
Average number of personnel during review period (FTE)	282	271	284	268	280	265
Personnel (headcount) at the end of the period	294	275	294	275	294	275
Earnings per share, €	0.676	0.432	0.687	0.649	0.810	0.856
Earnings per share, € (diluted)	0.630	0.402	0.640	0.604	0.756	0.797
Number of shares at the end of period	13,298,450	12,072,150	13,298,450	12,072,150	13,298,450	12,072,150

* Figures for periods 10-12/21, 10-12/20, 7-12/21 and 7-12/20 are unaudited.

Calculation formulas used for the indicators

EBITDA = operating profit (EBIT) + depreciation and amortization
Net cash = cash in hand and at banks + liquid investments - interest-bearing liabilities
Net gearing = (interest-bearing liabilities - cash in hand and at banks - liquid investments) / shareholders’ equity
Equity ratio = shareholders’ equity / (balance sheet total - advances received)

COMMENTS BY CEO TERO VIRTALA

2021 was a strong year for Remedy. We achieved excellent financial results and we successfully carried out many significant developments supporting our ambitious long-term growth plans. Some of these developments could be seen already in the fourth quarter 2021, which was a busy quarter on an operational level.

The fourth quarter's financial performance was the pinnacle of the year. Both revenue and profitability increased significantly y-o-y, driven by an increase in development fees from our partners. Game royalties decreased y-o-y. This can be attributed to the high amount of Control-related B2B deals made in the comparison period, and to our new Q4 2021 game launches not yet having recouped their development costs and therefore not generating royalties.

One of our key objectives during the past years has been to develop our organization and capabilities so that we can more predictably develop in parallel several high-quality games and have successful game launches with our partners on a more frequent basis. The fourth quarter was a strong demonstration of this capability.

In November Smilegate’s Crossfire HD, with the single-player story mode developed by Remedy, was launched in China. As part of a wider service-based Crossfire experience, it is still too early to evaluate the game’s success, but the early player reception has been positive. Smilegate revealed at The Game Awards (TGA) that CrossfireX will launch on February 10^th 2022. A dedicated team at Remedy continues to support these launches.

Alan Wake Remastered was launched at the beginning of the fourth quarter with good reception from fans and critics. At The Game Awards in December 2021, we announced with Epic Games Publishing that Alan Wake 2 will launch in 2023. TGA has grown to be the industry’s biggest event in terms of viewership, and Alan Wake 2 was one of the highest trending games of the event, with a very positive sentiment. Alan Wake 2 is in full production.

The development of the two Control-related games, a co-operative multiplayer-game codenamed Condor and the bigger Control game (codename Heron, are progressing well. Condor is in the proof-of-concept stage. The bigger-budget Control game (codename Heron) progressed into the concept stage during the fourth quarter.

We ended the year by signing a global development, license and distribution agreement with Tencent for the co-operative multiplayer game codenamed Vanguard. Forming this partnership is an important next step for Remedy towards becoming a game publisher with select future games. This also takes us a step further in our ambition to create longer-lasting games for our fans across the globe. Vanguard’s development continues in the proof-of-concept stage and the team is gradually being ramped up.

Overall, we advanced our long-term growth plans significantly during 2021. We now have three Remedy-owned franchises that are expanding into new games with world-class partners. In addition to story-focused single-player games, our ambition to also create longer lasting games is materializing in two multiplayer service-based games: codenamed Condor and Vanguard. The new deals we announced for these two games in 2021 with 505 Games and Tencent, respectively, are concrete steps towards becoming a game publisher and building a stronger position in the value chain.

In 2021, we made several significant developments to our proprietary Northlight-technology, which will benefit our future games and game teams. We have improved the ways we work in game projects and how game teams collaborate with the Northlight team. We have formed new external development partnerships and developed the ways of working with these partners.

We are entering the next phase of our growth plans. We now have multiple games launched and selling, and a number of promising games in development, supported by our great, global partners. The visibility to our future game roadmap is excellent, and our ability to execute that roadmap successfully is stronger than ever before. In 2022 we will continue investments in our personnel and technology to support our game projects as they are moving into the next stages of development. While these investments may have a short-term headwind on profitability, they enable major game launches between 2023 and 2025 and are essential in driving revenue and EBIT growth in the future. As a part of this next phase, we are aiming to transfer to Nasdaq Helsinki’s official list during 2022. We expect this to increase Remedy’s brand awareness, improve the liquidity of our shares, and help us reach a broader owner base. We are excited about the opportunities that lay ahead.

IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Remedy’s game development and operations have continued according to plan and Covid-19 has not caused any significant changes to our project schedules during the reporting period.

The company has evaluated its assets and liabilities and concluded that the pandemic has not had an impact on valuation.

FUTURE OUTLOOK

Remedy expects its revenue to grow and operating profit to be on a lower level than in 2021.

LONG-TERM BUSINESS PROSPECTS

We have several games in development, each with a world-class partner and agreed long-term development fees. These development fees form a strong, growing and predictable revenue basis for many years. On top of these revenues, we build the more unpredictable, but highly scalable revenue streams, game royalties.

Individual game royalties depend on many variables, which are not all in our control. Therefore, our assumptions for game royalties are conservative by default. At the same time, even though not assumed as the base case, each high-quality game that stands out in the market, has the potential to succeed in a bigger way, which would drive significant revenue and operating profit growth. Our games are step by step transforming into longer-lasting experiences that typically continue to sell for many years. This also applies to the three games we launched in the end of 2021 and early 2022 with our partners.

In relation to our longer-term games roadmap, we now have four game projects in development and will have major game launches between 2023 and 2025. The timing of individual game launches and new game development agreements may cause variation between quarters and years. With several games out in the market accruing royalties, and several new ones in development, also this variation is expected to decrease in the coming years.

WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL

Remedy will host a webcast and conference call in English on its full year 2021 financial results, including a Q&A session for investors, analysts and media on 11 February 2022, at 11:00 am EET. Remedy’s financial results will be presented by CEO Tero Virtala and CFO Terhi Kauppi.

The full year financial report will be available after publication on Remedy’s Investor Relations website: https://investors.remedygames.com/announcements-and-releases/

Webcast details:

https://remedy.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tFh0UScWTL-nXH9531Id1A

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webcast.

Conference call details:

Dial in by calling your local phone number a few minutes before the briefing begins. International numbers available: https://remedy.zoom.us/u/kwjs0Qg4P

Finland: +358 9 7252 2471

Sweden: +46 850 539 728

United Kingdom: +44 330 088 5830

United States: +1 646 558 8656

Meeting ID: 883 3233 0623

Passcode: 724826

A recording of the webcast will be available after the briefing at https://investors.remedygames.com/presentations/

MORE INFORMATION

Veli-Pekka Puolakanaho, Corporate Development Director

Phone: +358 50 430 0936

Email: veli-pekka.puolakanaho@remedygames.com

Alexander Corporate Finance Oy, Certified Adviser
Phone: +358 50 520 4098

REMEDY IN PRIEF

Remedy Entertainment Plc is a globally successful video game company known for story-driven and visually stunning console and computer games such as Control, Alan Wake and Max Payne. Remedy also develops its own Northlight game engine and game development tools. Founded in 1995 and based in Finland, the company employs over 290 game industry professionals from 30 different countries. Remedy is listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland marketplace.

DISTRIBUTION

Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
Key media
www.remedygames.com