In 2023, we consolidated our business further by selling off the majority of our LEC franchise rights in League of Legends, resulting in an EBITDA of DKK 146.8 million for the year. The value increase of the rights re-affirms our ongoing investment and consolidation strategy around key assets, and even though it comes in DKK 3.2 million below latest guidance, given the circumstances and investment in the Counter-Strike team, the result is overall satisfactory.
The main contributors to the result, besides the sale of LEC Franchise rights, are a stabilization of the value of our Commercial Partnerships and League Revenues as well as further growth in the B2B and B2C business in and around our gaming centre, Astralis Nexus.
During the year, we invested significantly in our Counter-Strike teams and division. On the team side we added two high-profile players, both amongst the best in the world. We also welcomed a new Sports Director with the goal of securing long-term competitive success across our teams. The goal continues to be a permanent presence in the top of the world rankings.
Despite the lack of top results, we continued to see a strengthening of our brand with a growing digital audience and media presence. We launched our own broadcast channel, Astralis Watch, which, despite a limited budget, has already shown promising viewership numbers and an extremely engaged audience.
This confirms our strategy of creating a global gaming brand and media independent of short-term team results.
In a year of varied competitive success, the Astralis brand continued to strengthen within existing and new audiences. The fanbase continued the positive development measured in the number of followers on our digital channels, and compared to 2022, we registered a positive development in the total number of followers across all channels, providing a wider commercial platform for existing and potential commercial partners.
Following a strategic review announced in March 2023, it was decided to delist from NASDAQ First North Growth Markets in August 2023.
Despite the strong financial performance, the share price had dropped significantly since the listing in 2019, and the liquidity of the Company's share was very limited, providing little value for both the Company and its shareholders. Furthermore, the delisting will save the Company approximately DKK +2m in annual direct costs and an estimated addition of DKK +1m in annual indirect cost savings.
The Company delisted on 25 October 2023.
Result
The result for 2023 is overall satisfactory following the sale of our franchise rights in the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) and despite the underlying difficulties in the market and our teams' general performance in 2023.
The full year net revenue for the Group was DKK 72.3 million in 2023 – compared to DKK 87.5 million in 2022 – which was in the middle of the financial guidance given in corporate announcement no. 19-2023 of DKK 70-75 million.
A positive EBITDA of DKK 146.7 million – compared to DKK 2.6 million in 2022 – was DKK 3.3 million below guidance given with a range between DKK 150 to 155 million. The result before tax for the year was DKK 137.0 million which is in line with expectations.
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