Tradedoubler Year-End Report January – December 2020

The fourth quarter October - December 2020

• Net sales amounted to SEK 359 M (333) an increase of 8% or 13% adjusted for changes in exchange rates compared to the same period last year.
• Gross profit was SEK 68 M (72), a decrease of -5% or -1% adjusted for changes in exchange rates. Gross margin was 18,9% (21.6).
• Operating costs excluding depreciation and change related items were SEK 50M (56), a decrease of -11% or -8% adjusted for changes in exchange rates.
• EBITDA amounted to SEK 17 M (13). Adjusted for change related items, EBITDA was SEK 18 M (16).
• Investments in immaterial assets, mainly related to product development, were SEK 7 M (6).
• Cash flow from operating activities was SEK 48 M (34) and the sum of cash and interest-bearing financial assets was SEK 89 M (48) at the end of the fourth quarter. Net cash in the fourth quarter increased by SEK 33 M to SEK -30 M. During the fourth quarter the parent company received a tax refund of approximately SEK 7 M which impacted the cash position positively.
• Earnings per share, before and after dilution were SEK 0.21 (0.09).

The full year 2020

• Net sales amounted to SEK 1,235 M (1,209), which is an increase compared to last year by 2 or 4 % adjusted for changes in exchange rates compared to the same period last year.
• Gross profit was SEK 255 M (264), a decrease of -4% and -2% adjusted for changes in exchange rates. Gross margin was 20.6% (21.9).
• Operating costs excluding depreciation and change related items were SEK 191M (212), a decrease of -10% or -9% adjusted for changes in exchange rates.
• EBITDA amounted to SEK 62 M (45). Adjusted for change related items, EBITDA was SEK 64 M (52).
• Investments in immaterial assets, mainly related to product development, were SEK 24 M (22).
• Cash flow from operating activities was SEK 88 M (9) and the sum of cash and interest-bearing financial assets was SEK 89 M (25) at the end of the year. Net cash in the year increased by SEK 56 M to SEK -30 M.
• Earnings per share, before and after dilution were SEK 0.16 (-0.26).
• The tax authorities in the United Kingdom and Sweden have during the third quarter 2020 reached a mutual agreement on the double taxation procedure which is described in the 2019 annual report on page 28. The result of the agreement is that the tax adjustment is divided between the two jurisdictions in an equal proportion. Tradedoubler has in previous periods booked a tax receivable of SEK 14 M related to this issue. Based on a final agreement between competent authorities a cash tax refund of around SEK 7 M was received during the fourth quarter by the parent company. The UK subsidiary is expected to receive a cash tax refund of less than SEK 1 M. The remainder will be rewarded as unused tax credit. This has resulted in a write-down of approximately SEK 7 M during the third quarter.
• The outbreak of covid-19 has had an impact on the results of the year. Certain segments and markets have benefited from the situation while mainly the travel segment has declined sharply. Group management has taken an active role in controlling the company’s costs as a response to the covid-19 crisis which has led to improved profitability compared to last year. The impact of the covid-19 crisis going forward is hard to estimate as most segments of the business are affected.

CEO Matthias Stadelmeyer’s comments

“The two strong macro-economic influences that impacted our results during 2020 continued in the fourth quarter: travel restrictions decreased the business with clients in this business vertical by around 90% while retail related business had a strong push. 

As the fourth quarter is the strongest quarter for retail business due to Black Friday and Christmas sales, the revenue of Tradedoubler increased by 13%. For the full year 2020 it is 4% revenue growth.

The gross profit margin decreased to 18,9% as we ran a high number of special promotions for clients during the sales period on lower commissions. Further visibility campaigns that usually have higher margins are still reduced due to the influence of the covid-19 pandemic on the industry. 

Costs remain on a lower level as in previous periods and EBITDA adjusted for change related items was therefore 18m SEK for the quarter and 64m SEK for 2020, a growth of 13% or 23% compared to 2019. The EBITDA margin adjusted for change related items increased to 5,0% during the quarter or 5,2% for the full year.
    
The Covid 19 crisis will continue to impact our business in the coming quarters and we expect similar trends as in recent quarters as long as political restrictions continue as they are.

We continue to roll-out TD Grow, our new self-service affiliate platform for smaller and medium sized businesses. In Q4 we released a new user interface for advertisers which increases the flexibility and transparency of the management of affiliate programs for our clients. Both products will help us to realize our targets in 2021.”

Contact information
Matthias Stadelmeyer, President and CEO, telephone +46 8 405 08 00   
Viktor Wågström, CFO, telephone +46 8 405 08 00   
E-mail: ir@tradedoubler.com

Other information
This information is information that Tradedoubler AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 08.00 CET on 23 February 2021. Numerical data in brackets refers to the corresponding periods in 2019 unless otherwise stated. Rounding off differences may arise.