Online affiliate and content marketing provider Raketech said a 25.8% year-on-year increase in revenue to a record €17.1m (£14.6m/$20.1m) in the first half of its 2021 financial year was due to a rise in network sales and the impact of recent acquisitions.
Revenue in the six months to 30 June was up from €13.6m in the same period last year, with commissions revenue rising 20.2% to €14.2m and revenue from flat fees up 63.5% to $2.9m.
Raketech said that this growth was primarily driven by a rise in network sales, as well as “continued strong growth” in Japan and additional revenue through the recently acquired AmericanGambler US-facing affiliate site in November last year.
However, Raketech noted that this additional revenue from AmericanGambler was partly offset by a reduction in revenue following the disposal of its consumer finance assets late last year.
Shortly after the end of the first half, Raketech also completed the acquisitions of QM Media AB’s assets and Spain-based organic casino affiliation marketing company Infinileads, with key assets Slotjava.es and Slotjava.it.
Looking at costs for the period and total operating expenses were 29.9% higher at €13.9m, driven by an increase in costs related to fixed fees and commissions revenue, with this up 71.4% to €6.0m.
However, such was the impact of the revenue increase that operating profit climbed 10.3% to €3.2m, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was 20.0% higher at €6.6m.
After including $602,000 in finance costs, pre-tax profit stood at €2.5m, up 4.2% year-on-year, while after paying €127,000 in tax, comprehensive profit for the period amounted to €2.4m, an increase of 4.4% on last year.
Turning attention to the second quarter and revenue was 25.7% higher at €8.8m, with commission revenue rising 17.3% to €7.3m and flat fees revenue up 83.9% to €1.5m.
Operating expenses in the three months to 30 June were 30.9% up at €7.2m, but operating profit was 6.7% higher at €1.6m and EBITDA increased 20.1% year-on-year to €3.4m.
Finance costs amounted to €295,000, which left a pre-tax profit of €1.3m, level with last year. Raketech paid €66,000 in tax and, as such, ended the quarter in line with Q2 of 2020 on €1.2m.
“The second quarter of 2021 was a record quarter for Raketech with general solid performance across most assets and regions, in particular from our Network sales and from our efforts in Japan,” Raketech group chief executive Oskar Mühlbach said.
“Besides being happy with our operational performance I am also content with the fact that we continue to deliver on our strategic and operational goals. We have also made important and strategic acquisitions whereby we increase our footprint on important growth markets such as the US.
“With this and the fact that we are delivering more now than ever before, I am looking forward to seeing the results from onboarding our recently acquired talents, markets, and assets to the Raketech family.”
