The quarterly and annual financial reports for Affilaite Better Collective's fiscal year 2023 are now available. Despite a 7% decline, the company's fourth-quarter revenue of €85 million ($91.9 million) was up 15% year-on-year at €47 million, or 56% of the overall group revenue. Having said that, EBITDA before special items fell, falling 16% to €30m.
The evolving US market for revenue share contracts and the challenging comparison to Ohio's pre-registration for launch in Q4 2022 were the reasons given by the company for the lower EBITDA.
Regardless, cash flow increased substantially, reaching €38m from €21m in Q42022.
Just over 483,000 new depositing clients (NDC) constituted a 17% decline for the fourth quarter. Eighty percent of these NDCs—300,000 in total—were sent during the 2022 World Cup through revenue-share contracts. Incidentally, 115,000 NDCs were transmitted within the US, with revenue share contracts accounting for 55% of the total. This is a 66% increase in NDC in the North American market.
Even though the company's KPIs were all over the place in Q4, Better Collective still managed to snag a few big deals. The €176 million purchase of Playmaker Capital in November was the company's second-largest to-do buy. The acquisition was hailed by Better Collective Co-Founder & CEO Jesper Søgaard as a "milestone in our journey towards becoming a leading digital sports media group" and a "transformative" development.
In all, Better Collective's yearly revenue reached €327 million, marking a 21% rise. With a 47% increase in recurring income, EBITDA before exceptional items reached €111m, a 31% increase. It looks that Better Collective had a good year overall, despite the declines this quarter.
According to Søgaard, the results showed that the group worked together well in 2023, which was a successful year with profitable growth. They also continued their strategic investments to set the stage for future success. Without a doubt, 2023 was a watershed year in which we realised our ambition.
