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Gaming News
PlayStudios announces Q3 2023 financial results3 November 2023(PRESS RELEASE) -- PlayStudios, Inc., the creator of the playAWARDS loyalty platform and an award-winning developer and publisher of free-to-play mobile and social games, announced financial results for the third quarter ended 30 September 2023. Third Quarter Financial Highlights - Revenue was $75.9 million during the third quarter of 2023, compared to $72.1 million during the third quarter of 2022. - Net income was $3.8 million during the third quarter of 2023, compared to $3.6 million during the third quarter of 2022. - AEBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure defined below, was $13.5 million during the third quarter of 2023, compared to $9.8 million during the third quarter of 2022. Andrew Pascal, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PLAYSTUDIOS, commented, “Year-over-year profitability and margins improved in the third quarter, continuing a trend we’ve seen since the second half of 2022. Compared to 3Q22, AEBITDA margins grew by 430 basis points in the quarter while total AEBITDA was up 39%. Year to date, AEBITDA margins have gained 790 basis points over the prior year comparable period, evidence that our efforts around operational efficiencies, revenue diversification, and cost containment are working. We expect gains to continue and we remain focused on reaching margin parity with our peers. While we’ve yet to see the same level of momentum in our top-line revenues, I’m confident in our growth pipeline. Specific revenue drivers include further refinements in myVEGAS Slots and myKONAMI Slots, the continued scaling up of our early-stage growth games, the introduction of new game titles currently in development, and the expansion of our playAWARDS loyalty marketing platform to external partners.” Momentum in the PLAYSTUDIOS collection of growth games continues to drive overall portfolio performance, while Tetris remains the largest single driver of the audience and revenue gains, with players continuing to discover and rediscover this iconic franchise. The company looks for DAUs to further increase in the coming months and is working diligently to optimize the ad economy around its growing player networks. At the same time, PLAYSTUDIOS remains focused on expanding the Tetris universe and developing new Tetris titles. These new games are intended for the broader puzzle category where variants of the core Tetris format have emerged. Pascal added, “We are encouraged by the Tetris team’s progress to date and expect one or more of these new games to be introduced in the coming months.” PLAYSTUDIOS other growth games, myVEGAS Bingo, MGM Slots Live, and the Brainium suite, also performed well in the quarter. The Brainium products will be an area of particular focus for the company in the coming months and into 2024 as the teams integrate the playAWARDS loyalty platform under the player-facing myVIP brand, and examine ways to further improve monetization. We are encouraged by the results of our recent initiatives in Solitaire and look forward to leveraging these enhancements across Brainium’s entire portfolio. The PLAYSTUDIOS core portfolio continues to track inline with the broader social casino category. We remain focused on our two recently transitioned titles. The company believes that an increased cadence of new content for myKONAMI Slots and myVEGAS Slots, along with adjustments to their economies and a more refined segmentation and pricing approach can materially increase monetization rates and bring them closer to peer levels. As a reminder, both myKONAMI Slots and myVEGAS Slots are established franchises with a relatively large base of daily active users. Pascal further added, “We continue to make progress advancing our playAWARDS business by adding new partners and functionality to the platform. We are elevating the presence of our myVIP program in Tetris and are pleased with the early results. As with our other games, there is a clear and meaningful lift in engagement when players interact with this valued-added program. We are in the process of adding the myVIP loyalty program to our remaining games, which will meaningfully increase the share of our audience that can enjoy the program’s unique loyalty benefits. Our end goal remains to dramatically scale the number of players and partners in our loyalty ecosystem by offering playAWARDS to external publishers, enabling us to ultimately grow it as a stand-alone business.” He concluded “As we approach the close of 2023, I am very excited about what lies ahead for PLAYSTUDIOS. We see meaningful opportunities with our core social casino titles, are encouraged by the momentum across our growth portfolio, and are excited to launch new game formats under the Tetris banner. In addition to these game initiatives, we look forward to advancing the features and capabilities of our playAWARDS division, as we prepare to open up our model by offering loyalty solutions to other strategically aligned game publishers.” Recent Business Highlights - Executed a new agreement with the Tetris Company, extending PLAYSTUDIOS’ exclusive mobile rights through at least August of 2029. With this commitment in place, PLAYSTUDIOS can confidently pursue a more comprehensive and long-term growth strategy for this beloved gaming franchise. - Fully launched myVIP in POP! Slots and added an MGM Slots Store to our direct purchasing site, myVIP.co. - As of 30 September 2023, PLAYSTUDIOS had a net cash balance of $130 million and full availability on its $81 million loan facility. The company did not repurchase any stock in the open market during the quarter. On November 1, 2023, the Board extended the share repurchase authorization through November 10, 2024 and increased the total amount authorized to $50 million, up from $30 million remaining under the previous authorization. - playAWARDS extended partnerships with AEG, Merlin Entertainment, and Big Bus Tours in the quarter. At quarter end, playAWARDS had over 120 rewards partners with players making purchases of over $24 million in retail value in the quarter. Outlook The Company is increasing its 2023 AEBITDA guidance to $60 million from the previous range of $55 to $60 million. 2023 Revenue guidance is now $305 to $315 million, compared to our previous guidance of $305 to $325 million. We have not provided the most directly comparable GAAP measure for our AEBITDA outlook because certain items that are part of the projected non-GAAP financial measure are outside of our control or cannot be reasonably estimated without unreasonable effort.
PlayStudios announces Q3 2023 financial results
is republished from iGamingNews.com.
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