Catena Enjoys Strong First Quarter but Revenue Dips Slightly

Catena Media released its latest report, revealing data regarding the company’s financial performance between January and March this year. In Q1, 2023, the company reported total revenue of €35 million ($37.9 million). This result, when compared to the €36.9 million ($40 million) result from the corresponding period in 2022, marked a decrease of 5%.

Adjusted EBITDA for the company’s continuing operations decreased as well. For the first quarter of this year, adjusted EBITDA halted at €20.5 million ($22.2 million), down by 7% when compared to the €22.1 million ($23.9 million) result from the first quarter of last year. Between January and March this year, the adjusted EBITDA margin decreased slightly to 59%, confirmed the company on Wednesday.

Keeping in mind the decrease in revenue, Catena reported a decline in its new depositing customers. In Q1, 2023, new depositing customers (NDCs) from the company’s continuing operations marked a decrease of 3% to 113,294. In contrast, for the same period last year, NDCs hit 117,286.

“I am pleased to report a satisfactory start to the year for Catena Media.“

Michael Daly CEO at Catena Media

Michael Daly, Catena’s CEO, said that the company has seen a good start to the year. He spoke about the “addition of Ohio and Massachusetts as new online sports betting states,” which helped deliver additional revenue, powering the company’s North American affiliation business segment for the first quarter.

Focusing on the revenue, Daly explained that the slight decrease wasn’t unexpected. Catena’s CEO pointed out: “year-on-year group revenue decreased slightly due to challenging comparatives created by the record-breaking launch of online sports betting in New York in Q1 2022 and the go-live in Louisiana in the same quarter.”

Q1 2023 Marks a Busy Period for Catena

In its recent trading update, Catena highlighted multiple activities during the first quarter of 2023. The company reported strong engagement from players within the sports betting market in Ohio, which launched at the start of the year.

Additionally, Catena acknowledged the strong results from the Super Bowl in February, as well as the launch of sports wagering in Massachusetts in March. The company also confirmed it has seen “positive revenue contributions from the media partnership with NJ.com.”

Daly predicted lags in the launches of sports wagering in more states by the end of the year and in 2024, primarily due to the US federal election cycle. Finally, he said Catena expects to see the growth of sports wagering resume and accelerate along with the new legislative cycle in 2025.