Catena has reported its financial results for the second quarter of 2024. In total, revenue for Q2 came to €12.8m ($14.1m), down 14% year-on-year, while adjusted EBITDA came to €0.7m – a sharp decline of 67% compared to last year’s €2.1m.
Loss before tax remained relatively stagnant, dropping to a loss of $2.5m compared to last year’s $2.8m. However, overall loss from the period recovered significantly from this time last year, from Q2 2023’s loss of $18.2m to this quarter’s loss of $2.7m.
By geography and vertical – North America
Looking at Catena’s North America segment, total revenue came to €11.2m, down 11% year-on-year. This is reflected in the fact that new depositing customers (NDCs) also dropped 11% in the quarter, coming to 29,824. Adjusted EBITDA saw a similar decline, though not as sharp a decline as the business as a whole, dropping 24% to €4m.
Of the segment’s €11.2m in revenue, €9.1m came from casino. This was one of the few segments in which Catena saw growth this quarter, with this vertical up 13% year-on-year. The sports segment, which made up the remaining €2.1m, saw a notable decline year-on-year, down 53% from the €4.5m reported last year.
By geography and vertical – Rest of the world
Catena’s remaining €1.6m in revenue came from sources around the world – a 33% decline year-on-year. NDCs fell even further year-on-year than its North American counterpart, down 62% to 1,651, yet despite this, adjusted EBITDA was able to generate more than it did last year. In total, adjusted EBITDA for the segment was reported at €0.8m, up over half a million euros from last year’s €0.3m adjusted EBITDA.
Both the casino and sports segments faced decreases in revenue year-on-year, with the casino segment most heavily affected, down 44% to €0.9m. Sports saw a far smaller decline, down just 6% to €0.6m.
By vertical
Combined, Catena’s sports segment made total revenue of €2.8m, accounting for 29% of the affiliate’s total revenue. This reflects a decline of 47%, mostly attributable to the 53% decline seen in the segment in the US. This is also reflected by the 46% drop in NDCs in the segment, down 46% to 9,011. Despite this, adjusted EBITDA was not impacted quite as harshly, with adjusted EBITDA loss increasing from €2.7m to €3.2m.
Meanwhile, Catena’s casino segment saw an increase in revenue year-on-year, up 3% to €10m. NDCs dropped just 3% to 22,464 – a notably smaller decline compared to other measurements – while adjusted EBITDA fell 18%, totalling €3.9m.
During the quarter
As part of ongoing restructuring efforts to turn the company’s finances around – with the above results reflecting a trend seen across several recent quarters – Catena has brought on several new executives as part of its leadership team.
Edward Midolo was appointed as CTO, effective 1 April, while Michael Gerrow was appointed CFO, effective 15 April. Going into Q3, Catena brought on Manuel Stan as its new CEO after announcing his appointment in March. We speak to Stan as part of the upcoming September issue of Trafficology, which will also be available as a Huddle.
He said: “It’s very important to note that it’s not just me being new at Catena – pretty much the entire management team will be new by the end of the year. Since the beginning of Q2, we’ve had a new CFO, a new COO, a new CTO and myself, so that’s four brand new people in the team and the team is absolutely fantastic.
“We have a combination of new blood with people who have been here for a while, people have grown with the company and people who have proved themselves. Everybody is highly motivated and everybody is keen to take this challenge… We’re in this together and as a management team, we’re highly motivated to turn this around.”
Quotes
On the results themselves, Stan said in Catena’s report: “Our Q2 results were in line with the earnings update issued in June. They reflected the changes in search engine policies that impacted some media partnerships for affiliates, including Catena Media. While the changes had an immediate negative effect, we saw a positive impact over our owned and operated products later in the quarter…
“I am excited by the challenges ahead and optimistic of the future as we maximise our products’ potential, particularly in the casino segment where we see strong opportunities for growth. I believe Catena Media is well positioned to become a leading partner for the iGaming industry in North America.”
