Rovio Entertainment Corporation Stock Exchange release Feb 22, 2018 at 08.30 am EET
PRELIMINARY INFORMATION ABOUT ROVIO'S 2017 Q4 AND FULL-YEAR RESULTS AND OUTLOOK FOR 2018
Rovio publishes some preliminary information concerning its financial performance for fourth quarter and full-year 2017. Additionally, the company publishes its 2018 outlook statement which the company estimates may differ from market expectations. Rovio publishes its full-year results statement on March 2, 2018. The figures in this release are unaudited.
Preliminary information about October-December 2017 financial performance
The last quarter of 2017 was successful for Rovio. The key performance indicators of the company's top games improved significantly, group revenue grew by 17 percent and EBIT more than doubled from Q4 2016.
Key figures for October-December 2017:
- Rovio's revenue grew 17.0 percent to 73.9 million euros (63.2 million euros)
- Games: revenue grew 42.3 percent to 66.1 million euros (46.5 million euros)
- Brand Licensing: revenue declined 53.3 percent 7.8 million euros (16.7 million euros)
- Group adjusted EBITDA was 14.1 million euros (15.9 million euros)
- EBITDA was 14.0 million euros (15.9 million euros)
- EBIT was 10.4 million euros (4.9 million euros)
- Games global quarterly KPIs:
- ARPDAU grew to 8 cents (4 cents).
- TOP 5 games ARPDAU grew to 14 cents (7 cents).
- MARPPU grew to 35.2 euros (27.8 euros).
- TOP 5 games MARPPU grew to 35.6 euros (28.2 euros).
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- User Acquisition (UA) investments were 15.9 million euros (7.7 million euros) or 24.0 percent of Games segment revenue (16.5 percent).
Key figures for January-December 2017:
- Rovio's revenue grew 55 percent to 297.2 million euros (191.7 million euros)
- Games: revenue grew 55.9 percent to 248.0 million euros (159.0 million euros)
- Brand Licensing: revenue grew 50.5 percent to 49.2 million euros (32.7 million euros)
- Adjusted EBITDA grew to 64.5 million euros (35.4 million euros)
- EBITDA improved to 60.0 million euros (35.4 million euros)
- EBIT improved to 31.4 million euros (16.9 million euros) and adjusted EBIT 35.9 million euros (16.9 million euros)
- User Acquisition (UA) investments were at 69.6 million euros (18.2 million euros) or 28.1 percent of Games segment revenue (11.5 percent).
The figures in brackets refer to comparable period one year before.
Key figures
| Million euros | 10-12 / 2017 | 10-12 / 2016 | Change, (%) | 1-12 / 2017 | 1-12 / 2016 | Change, (%) |
| Revenue | 73.9 | 63.2 | 17.0 % | 297.2 | 191.7 | 55.0 % |
| EBITDA | 14.0 | 15.9 | -11.7 % | 60.0 | 35.4 | 69.6 % |
| EBITDA-% | 19.0 % | 25.1 % | 20.2 % | 18.5 % | ||
| Adjusted EBITDA | 14.1 | 15.9 | -11.3 % | 64.5 | 35.4 | 82.3 % |
| Adjusted EBITDA-% | 19.0 % | 25.1 % | 21.7 % | 18.5 % | ||
| EBIT | 10.4 | 4.9 | 112.0 % | 31.4 | 16.9 | 85.8 % |
| EBIT margin, % | 14.1 % | 7.8 % | 10.6 % | 8.8 % | ||
| Adjusted EBIT | 10.5 | 4.9 | 113.2 % | 35.9 | 16.9 | 112.5 % |
| Adjusted EBIT margin, % | 14.2 % | 7.8 % | 12.1 % | 8.8 % | ||
| UA investments | 15.9 | 7.7 | 107.4 % | 69.6 | 18.2 | 281.7 % |
Figures are unaudited.
Outlook for 2018
Rovio Group revenue is expected to be 260-300 million euros in 2018 (297 million euros in 2017). Rovio's profitability as measured by earnings before interest and tax excluding items affecting comparability is expected to be 9 to 11 percent (10.6 percent in 2017).
In 2018, Rovio Games business will focus on continuing development of its live game portfolio according to the Games-as-a-Service strategy, profitable user acquisition and development of new games. The user acquisition investments are expected to be around 30 percent of Games revenues for the full year, however, the amount may vary depending on development of the games' monetization and the level of competition in the market. The cost per acquired user has risen significantly in the market.
During 2018, Rovio estimates to invest 10-15 million euros in its subsidiary Hatch Entertainment Oy that develops cloud streaming based game service (5 million euros in 2017). Approximately half of the investment will impact Group profit, ie. an impact of 2-3 %-points to the expected EBIT margin, and half will be capitalized development costs and advance payments. Hatch represents one possible way to play mobile games in the future. By investing in the development of Hatch's streaming service Rovio diversifies its portfolio, aims to utilize the possibilities that new technologies offer for games business, and implements company's strategy to explore the future of gaming alongside the continuous free-to-play games development.
Publishing of financial statements
Rovio will publish its full-year results statement on March 2, 2018 at approx. 12.00 EET, and until then Rovio's silent period continues. On March 2, 2018 the company will organise a results conference for media, analysts and institutional investors (live and webcast) at 14.00-15.00 EET at Rovio's offices (address Keilaranta 7, Espoo, Finland). Those wishing to participate in the live event are requested to send an email to comms@rovio.com. The conference presentations will be streamed live, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions also online. The presentations will become viewable after the event from Rovio's website www.rovio.com/investors.
ROVIO ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION
Rauno Heinonen
SVP, Corporate Communications and IR
Distribution: Nasdaq Helsinki, principal media, www.rovio.com