MTG’s Group President and CEO Maria Redin states in the report CEO letter:

“The past year has seen us make company history time and time again. There are many areas to highlight, but two things make me particularly proud. The first one is our ability to scout the market, execute on M&A and onboard new companies. As a result, three great new gaming studios joined our “family” in 2021, enabling us to significantly diversify our gaming vertical. The second is the in-depth strategic work and preparation building up to the announcement of us divesting ESL Gaming to Savvy Gaming and transforming MTG into a pure-play gaming company. It showcases our ability to turn our deep understanding of the industry into significant shareholder value. It has also allowed us to create the first ever esports unicorn and enable the merger between ESL Gaming and FACEIT together with Savvy Gaming Group.

The performance of our gaming vertical reflects our continued efforts to create a more diversified portfolio that does not depend on a single studio or game. We saw accelerated growth of 13 percent on a pro forma basis, which clearly demonstrates the value of a diverse portfolio of games across a wide range of genres and in different stages of their life cycle. And despite accelerating our growth, we continued to maintain our margins, which highlights the robustness of this business and its future potential. 

As a result of the divestment of ESL Gaming, we find ourselves at a transformative moment in time. Our Board of Directors will propose to return at least 40 percent of the net proceeds from the transaction to our shareholders, whom we remain grateful to for their support throughout our journey. The remaining proceeds will be used to accelerate our Buy & Build strategy in gaming. We enter 2022 as a pure-play gaming company. We have a proven growth strategy in place and will use our strengthened balance sheet to both accelerate our organic growth and look for new and exciting M&A opportunities around the world.”

MTG’s Q4 2021 Interim Financial Results report highlights follows below. For the full report please see the attached file or www.mtg.com.

Operational highlights

• The gaming vertical delivered record growth on the back of a more diversifed gaming portfolio. Net sales amounted to SEK 1,272 million, resulting in year-over-year growth of 100 percent, and a pro forma growth of 13 percent
• The esports vertical hosted five Master properties, all produced as studio or online events. ESL Gaming continued to enhance its offerings and improve its strategic position by investing into areas such as mobile gaming
• On January 24, MTG divested ESL Gaming to Savvy Gaming Group for USD 1,050 million (approximately SEK 9,723 million) to combine with FACEIT and create a global leader in competitive gaming. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter 2022

Financial highlights

• Net sales increased by 56 percent to SEK 1,658 (1,064) million. Pro forma growth amounted to 7 percent
• Adjusted EBITDA of SEK 346 (193) million. Adjustments included long-term incentive programs (LTI) of SEK 15 (-10) million and total M&A transaction costs of SEK 28 (40) million
• EBITDA of SEK 303 (160) million and EBIT of SEK 121 (91) million
• Net financial items amounted to SEK -403 (51) million, mainly driven by revaluation of the earnout liability as a result of a significant overperformance by Ninja Kiwi
• Tax cost amounted to SEK -83 (-77) million
• Net income of SEK -365 (66) million and basic earnings per share, before dilution, of SEK -2.65 (0.87)
• Cash balance of SEK 943 (1,153) million

Financial overview

Shareholder information

MTG’s Annual General Meeting 2022

The Annual General Meeting will be held on 24 May 2022 in Stockholm. Shareholders wishing to have matters considered at the Annual General Meeting should submit their proposals in writing either by post to the Company Secretary, Modern Times Group MTG AB, Annual General Meeting, P.O. Box 2094, SE-103 13 Stockholm, Sweden or by email to agm@mtg.com at least seven weeks before the Annual General Meeting in order for the proposal to be included in the notice to the meeting. Further details on how and when to register will be published in advance of the meeting.

Nomination Committee ahead of 2022 Annual General Meeting

In accordance with the resolution by the Annual General Meeting regarding the procedure for the Nomination Committee, a Nomination Committee has been convened to prepare proposals for the Annual General Meeting 2022. The Nomination Committee comprises Klaus Roehrig, appointed by Active Ownership Corporation; Joachim Spetz, appointed by Swedbank Robur Fonder; Eric Sibbern, appointed by Kabouter Management, LLC and Simon Duffy, the Chairman of the Board. In line with past practice, the members of the Committee have appointed Klaus Roehrig, representing the largest shareholder on the last business day of August 2021, as the Committee Chairman.

Information about the work of the Nomination Committee can be found on https://www.mtg.com/governance/nomination-committee/.

Shareholders wishing to submit proposals to the Nomination Committee may do so in writing either by post to the Company Secretary, Modern Times Group MTG AB, P.O. Box 2094, SE-103 13 Stockholm, Sweden or by email to agm@mtg.com.

Financial calendar

Conference call

The company will host a conference call on Monday, February 7, at 3:00 p.m. CET. The conference call will be held in English. To participate in the conference call, please dial:

Please note that only dial-in participants can ask questions during the conference call. The conference call will also be streamed via the following link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/tfm5zavb

For more information:

Lars Torstensson, Chief Financial Officer and EVP Communications & IR Direct: +46 (0) 70-273 48 79, lars.torstensson@mtg.com

Anton Gourman, VP Communications Direct: +46 73 661 8488, anton.gourman@mtg.com

Follow us: mtg.com / Twitter / LinkedIn

This information is information that Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ.) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 2:00 p.m. CET on February 7, 2022.

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About MTG

MTG (Modern Times Group MTG AB (publ.)) (www.mtg.com) is a strategic acquiror and operator of esports and gaming entertainment companies. Born in Sweden, the shares are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (‘MTGA’ and ‘MTGB’).