Hacksaw appoints Philippa Gregory operational CEO as Q3 revenue rises 12%
Deals & M&A2 min read
In brief
- Hacksaw appointed Philippa Gregory operational CEO of Hacksaw Gaming, replacing Marcus Cordes, who moves to Hacksaw Markets.
- Luke Hammett was named chief commercial officer.
- Q3 revenue rose 12% to €58.1m; profit for the period rose 18% to €45.7m.
- Group CEO Vrabic Verdir said the current game mix may affect short-term performance.
Hacksaw has appointed Philippa Gregory as operational CEO of its Hacksaw Gaming subsidiary. She replaces Marcus Cordes in the role. Cordes will move his focus to Hacksaw Markets, the company's B2B prediction markets business. Hacksaw has also named Luke Hammett as chief commercial officer and a member of its group management team.
Vrabic Verdir, group CEO of Hacksaw, said the transition gives both businesses "the dedicated leadership and focus" needed to support the group strategy.
Revenue in the three months to 30 September rose 12% to €58.1m. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 15% to €48.3m, and profit for the period grew 18% to €45.7m. Hacksaw attributed the continued growth to its back catalogue, new game launches and a larger customer base. The rate of expansion was slower than in earlier periods.
The average daily number of rounds played rose 19% year on year. The top 10 games made up 52% of total gross gaming revenue, against 45% a year earlier. The OpenRGS platform had 399 titles by the end of the quarter, up from 268 in the previous year.
Quarterly operating profit grew 17% from a year earlier to €47.8m, and pre-tax profit also rose 17%, to €48.3m. Hacksaw paid €2.6m in tax, leaving profit of €45.7m against €38.7m a year before.
For the nine months to the end of September, revenue reached €175m, an increase of 23%. Operating profit for the nine months was 27% higher at €142.8m. Pre-tax profit rose 34% to €144.3m, and total profit for the period after €7.4m in tax was €136.9m, up 36% on the previous year.
Verdir said that at the start of the year the development roadmap was altered by changing the game ratio while the focus widened across particular markets. According to him, once that roadmap took shape, the resulting game mix "did not deliver the level of performance" experienced historically. He called the situation "a temporary headwind" and said the roadmap balance has been adjusted since. The company expects the game mix to normalise in the coming months, though the current mix could affect short-term performance.
Hacksaw's share price initially rose when the third-quarter results were published.