The provider listed the war in Ukraine, increasing inflation, lower consumer confidence and remaining pandemic effects on supply chains as core challenges throughout the past 12 months, with all these factors impacting the recovery of the post-Covid-19 world economy.
However, chief executive Martin Carlesund said that Evolution was able to overcome these challenges to post an increase across all key financials, with further growth forecast for the year ahead.
“The employees at Evolution have once again shown extraordinary focus on the task at hand and done great work in these challenging market conditions,” Carlesund said. “We remain firmly anchored and we continue to deliver according to our plans with the everlasting ambition to always perform better.
“For 2023 we plan to release over 100 games. Some of the highlights will be presented at the ICE trade show next week, among the games showcased will be our biggest, most complex game show ever. This release takes the player experience yet again to a completely new level.
“In these times I am proud to say that we are a financially very strong, an all-equity financed company with a solid balance sheet and strong cash flow.”
Financial results
Looking at Evolution’s 2022 financial year, operating revenue for the 12 months through to 31 December was €1.46bn (£1.29bn/$1.60bn), up 36.3% from €1.07bn in the previous year.
Breaking down this performance, live casino was responsible for $1.19bn of all revenue, up 41.6% on 2021 mainly due to increased commission income from both new and existing customers. RNG games revenue also climbed 17.0% year-on-year to €268.4m.
Evolution’s business in 2022 was also strengthened by the acquisition of NoLimit City, which completed in August. Nolimit City became the fourth brand under Evolution’s slots portfolio after also acquiring Big Time Gaming and NetEnt, which itself had recently acquired Red Tiger, in recent years.
Turning to costs and operating expenses were 32.3% higher at €548.7m but even after also including €1.5m in financial spending, Evolution was still able to post a pre-tax profit of €906.6m, up 40.0% on the previous year.
Evolution paid €63.2m in tax, meaning it ended the year with a net profit of €843.4m, up 39.3% year-on-year. In addition, the provider said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was 37.3% higher at €1.00bn for the year.
“As we move into 2023, our strategy and core values remain unchanged – for us at Evolution it is always about striving to be a little bit better, every day of the year, so that we can continue to widen the gap to competition and as I already stated, I very much look forward to an exciting 2023,” Carlesund said.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/finance/full-year-results/evolution-ceo-hails-fy-growth-amid-challenging-market/
