Key points:
- Revenue grew 37% year-over-year to reach $32.1m
- The group delivered 116,000 new depositing customers and expanded its share buyback program
- Full-year revenue guidance has subsequently been raised to $125m – $127m and adjusted EBITDA guidance to $46.5m – $48.5m
Gambling.com Group has released its third-quarter financial results for 2024, reporting particularly strong performance in revenue and adjusted EBITDA, and raising its guidance for the year.
The company saw third-quarter revenue climb by 37% year-over-year to $32.1m, marking a new quarterly high.
Net income also rose significantly, reaching $8.5m, up from $5m in the same period last year.
Beyond this, adjusted EBITDA reached a new record of $12.6m, reflecting a 108% increase compared to the prior year, and demonstrating a margin improvement to 39%, up from 26%.
Operating cash flow improved to $14.9m from a negative $0.7m in the prior year period, largely due to the absence of contingent payments related to the 2022 BonusFinder acquisition, as well as positive working capital shifts.
Free cash flow surged to $14.2m from $1.6m, further highlighting the company’s efficient cash management.
Total operating expenses for the quarter rose by 25% to $20.8m, attributed to higher personnel costs and increased amortisation expenses related to the acquisition of Freebets.com.
This acquisition, along with the company's ongoing share buyback efforts, reflect the company’s attempts to maximise shareholder value; in total the company repurchased 1,316,975 shares during the quarter at an average price of $9.35 per share, with additional repurchases totalling 486,000 shares following the quarter’s close.
In light of its strong quarterly performance, Gambling.com Group raised its full-year 2024 revenue guidance to between $125m and $127m, and its adjusted EBITDA guidance to a range of $46.5m to $48.5m.
These revised targets reflect anticipated growth of 16% in revenue and 29% in adjusted EBITDA.
It is worth noting that the updated guidance assumes no further market launches in North America this year, and excludes any impact from additional acquisitions beyond Freebets.com.
Commenting on the results, CEO and Co-Founder Charles Gillespie stated: “Our record third quarter and year-to-date results reflect our best-in-class execution in the affiliate sector to consistently grow market share around the world.
“To complement our continued organic market share growth, we continue to evaluate opportunities adjacent to the core business to expand our footprint in the online gaming ecosystem as we progress towards our goal of $100 million in annual Adjusted EBITDA.”
CFO Elias Mark added: “Year-over-year third-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA increased 37% and 108%, respectively, with very high free cash flow conversion, reflecting the continued success of our strategies to optimise the returns from our global portfolio of owned and operated assets.
“As expected, we generated strong iGaming NDC growth across all our geographical regions, while our North American business continued to be resilient against challenging comparables.
“As reflected in our raised full year outlook, we expect to generate significant year-over-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth in 2024, and we are well-positioned to carry this operating momentum forward, particularly as the North American market is expected to return to growth next year.”
