Astralis reports slight increase in revenue for 2020

15 Mar Astralis reports slight increase in revenue for 2020

Danish esports organisation Astralis Group has released its financial report for 2020.

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The publicly listed company has declared “satisfactory” annual financial results that are “within expectations”, according to a release.

Here are some key financial figures (all values have been converted from Danish krone (DKK) to Great British pound):

• Increase in net revenue from £5.59m in 2019 to £5.93m in 2020 (66 percent of revenue comes from sponsorships)
• Improved EBITDA from -£2.61m in 2019 to -£1.67m in 2020
• EBIT decreased from -£4.65m in 2019 to -£5.76m in 2020; the difference is due to increased amortisation and depreciation

Additional key points:

• While most esports organisations are reliant on regular funding rounds, Astralis expects not to need new capital in 2021 despite being cash flow negative
• Cash flow was positively impacted by League of Legends franchise payments being delayed to 2021 and 2022 due to COVID-19

Optimistic outlook for 2021:

• Management expects revenue from sponsorships to increase by 44 percent and league revenue to increase by 86 percent, all while the team-specific operation costs are expected to stay nearly flat with an expected increase of 3 percent

Operational goals for 2021:

• Scaling the performance model with new teams and players
• Acquiring and building new brands to broaden brand portfolio
• Improving commercial platform through digital and physical channels

Anders Hørsholt, Astralis Group CEO, said on Astralis’s finances: “In a year where the effects of the global pandemic effectively delayed our growth plans by 9-12 months, we are satisfied with the result and our development of the business.”

“While investing in key areas, we have managed to increase the revenue and significantly improve our EBITDA, further solidifying our foundation.”

Hørsholt also mentioned the potential growth of income from franchise rights and media rights. “In 2020 we registered an over-performance in the growth and revenue from these rights, and the … increasing industry interest for acquiring … these scarce rights.

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“Franchise rights guarantee our teams’ participation in the premium, international leagues and it is an important, growing revenue driver. It is my belief that the future value of these franchise rights is significantly higher than the book value.”

Esports Insider says: In a challenging year, Astralis Group managed to increase its EBIT. However, a mostly flat revenue for 2020 in a growing market and the delay of the annual report by one week leave some open questions. Reaching their ambitious growth targets in 2021 will be important for Astralis to convince investors it is able to build one of the leading global brands. It will be interesting to see how Astralis executes on their plans.

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