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Acroud streamlines business with rationalisation process as acquisition of Matching Visions boosts 2021 revenue

By Conor Mulheir - 17 Feb, 2022

Affiliate business Acroud generated total revenue of €24.8m in 2021, an increase of 113.0% year-on-year.

Growth was driven by the company’s acquisitions throughout the year, as core business revenue fell by 12.6% on an organic basis.

In January 2021, Acroud completed the acquisition of PMG Group’s iGaming SaaS assets, including affiliate network Matching Visions, B2B software supplier Voonix and marketing brand Traffic Grid.

It subsequently acquired Swedishsantas AB in April, the owner of Sweden-facing tipster brand TheGamblingCabin.

Acroud’s SaaS offerings accounted for 54.8% of total annual revenue, at €13.6m. The remaining €11.2m came from its iGaming affiliation segment.

Matching Visions was by far the firm’s largest independent revenue contributor, bringing in €11.6m. This equates to 46.6% of overall group revenue.

Within the iGaming affiliation segment, online casino accounted for 55.5% of revenue, while poker and sports betting brought in 24.3% and 18.6% of the total, respectively. The remaining 1.6% of affiliate revenue came from other verticals.

The business registered 133,195 new depositing customers (NDCs) throughout the year, an increase of 267.2% from 36,275 NDCs in 2020.

Total group EBITDA for 2021 totalled €4.7m, down 14.9%, while profit after tax came to €719,000, down 42.8%.

Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted profit after tax, which excludes items affecting comparability and currency effects, totalled €5.4m and €1.1m, respectively.

These figures gave Acroud earnings per share after dilution of €0.006, down from €0.016 in 2020. Net profit across the full year 2021 was €719,000, down 42.8% from €1.3m.

Looking specifically at Q4 2021, Acroud generated €6.5m in revenue, up 161.9% year-on-year, and declared EBITDA of €817,000, down 36.8%.

It registered a loss for the quarter of €356,000, reduced from Q4 2020’s loss of €685,000.

In November 2021, Acroud launched a large efficiency programme with around 20 staff members laid off to create a cost saving of around £1.2m in 2022, while accelerating revenue growth in 2022 and beyond.

The rationalisation process had a one-off cost in Q4 2021 of approximately €245,000.

“After multiple acquisitions, we have taken a big step towards becoming a more software-driven affiliate and have successfully executed cost synergies with the launch of our efficiency programme,” said Acroud CEO Robert Andersson.

“This means that we are able to do more with fewer people. We expect to see the significant effects on EBITDA levels from this programme in 2022 and onwards.

“While a leaner, more agile company keeps a higher pace and adapts quicker to the industry changes, we continue to keep a firm eye on our costs while accelerating our revenue growth in 2022 in line with our strategy,” he concluded.

Acroud’s share price has fallen 7% at the time of writing to SEK2.24 per share on Nasdaq Stockholm.