 "Nazara Tech's Q1 profits surge 31% to Rs 20.9 crore, revenue up 14%")
Gaming firm Nazara Technologies, on Friday, reported a 31 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in profits at Rs 20.86 crore for the quarter ended June, up from Rs 15.88 crore in the year-ago period.
In the previous quarter, the firm’s profit after tax stood at Rs 9.37 crore.
Nazara’s revenue from operations for the first quarter (Q!) of financial year 2023-24 (FY24) came in at Rs 254.4 crore, a 14 per cent YoY increase from Rs 223.1 crore in the corresponding period a year ago. On a sequential basis, however, revenue fell 12 per cent from Rs 289.32 crore in Q4 FY23.
“Our revenue and EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) growth is expected to accelerate in coming quarters due to seasonality and our decision to defer key esports launches to benefit from upcoming opportunities,” said Nitish Mittersain, founder, CEO and Joint MD, Nazara Technologies. “Of note, Sportskeeda continued to deliver a strong performance with a strong 52 per cent growth YoY in revenues and 55 per cent in EBITDA,” he added.
The company claimed that this was the tenth consecutive quarter of YoY growth in revenue and profits since its initial public offering (IPO).
Moreover, the firm does not expect the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council’s recent decision to levy a blanket 28 per cent tax on online gaming to affect its operations.
Said Mittersain, “The recent announcements related to skill-based real money gaming business will have minimal impact on our overall financial performance as its contribution is limited to 4.7 per cent of our revenue and 0.5 per cent of our EBITDA in Q1 FY24.”
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Meanwhile, total expenses swelled nearly 15 per cent to Rs 237.9 crore in Q1 FY24 from Rs 207.79 crore in the year-ago period. ‘Content, event and web server’-related costs made up the bulk of Nazara’s expenses, accounting for Rs 79.79 crore for the quarter, up from Rs 65.5 crore in Q1 FY23.
The firm has a diversified portfolio across segments like gaming, e-sports and adtech. Its e-sports business drew in a major chunk of the firm’s revenue, with a 46 per cent share. Likewise, its gaming segment accounted for 43 per cent of the revenue share, while adtech made up the remaining 11 per cent.
“We continue to build a healthy pipeline of M&A opportunities in various segments that we operate in with a focus on adding gaming IPs and strong teams to our platform,” said Mittersain.