Next Games - Revenue miss, total gross bookings in line
Next Games' net sales in Q4 amounted to EUR 7.7m, below our and consensus estimates (EUR 8.2m/8.1m Evli/cons.). Gross bookings amounted to EUR 8.2m (Evli EUR 8.2m). EBIT amounted to EUR -1.8m, in line with our and consensus estimates (EUR -1.7m/-1.8m Evli/cons.). Next Games expects moderate growth in 2020 and profitable publishing operations EBITDA.
- Net sales in Q4 were EUR 7.7m (EUR 11.3m in Q4/18), below our and consensus estimates (EUR 8.2m/8.1m Evli/Cons.). Net sales in Q4 declined -48% y/y. Compared to our estimates, revenue was lower than expected due to lower revenue despite gross bookings being in line with our estimates (Act./Evli EUR 8.2m/8.2m).
- Operating profit in Q4 amounted to EUR -1.8m (EUR --1.6m in Q4/18), in line with our and consensus estimates (EUR -1.7m/-1.8m Evli/cons.), at a margin of -24%. The EBITDA of publishing operations in H2 amounted to EUR 1.5m
- Adj. EBIT amounted to EUR -1.0m (Q4/18: -0.5m), below our estimate of EUR -0.7m.
- TWD: NML - DAU 183k (Q4/18: 253k), MAU 651k (Q4/18: 728k), ARPDAU EUR 0.25 (Q4/18: 0.25).
- TWD: OW - DAU 114k (Q4/18: 223k), MAU 591k (Q4/18: 759k), ARPDAU EUR 0.38 (Q4/18: 0.28).
- Guidance: Next Games expects moderate growth in 2020, weighted towards the end of the year. Publishing operations EBITDA is expected to be profitable. Revenue from already published games expected to continue on a flat or declining trend.
- Changes to reporting: R&D now includes costs relating to unpublished products, costs relating to developing live games included in sales and marketing expenses