The first quarter, January - March 2024
- Total revenue amounted to SEK 524 M (459) an increase of 14% or 11% adjusted for changes in exchange rates compared to the same period last year.
- Gross profit was SEK 107 M (98) an increase of 9% or 6% adjusted for changes in exchange rates. Gross margin was 20.4% (21.4).
- Operating costs excluding depreciation and adjusted for change related items were SEK 86 M (74), an increase of 17% or 13% adjusted for changes in exchange rates.
- EBITDA amounted to SEK 21 M (24). Adjusted for change related items, EBITDA was SEK 22 M (24).
- Investments in immaterial assets, mainly related to product development, were SEK 10 M (8).
- Cash flow from operating activities was SEK -2 M (40).
- Earnings per share, before and after dilution were SEK 0.03 (0.16).
Letter from the CEO
Growth of gross profit in the first quarter of 2024 was 6% on a currency adjusted basis, which is lower than in previous quarters and the adjusted EBITDA is SEK 22 M and SEK 2 M lower than in the comparison period.
The lower growth rate in gross profit and the lower EBITDA are largely linked to our French subsidiary R Advertising which is active in Email Marketing that halved their business compared to the same period last year. Email Marketing campaigns are highly volatile business and currently struggles to stay competitive in an increasingly regulated market.
TD's core business affiliate marketing and our new business lines Metapic, Appiness and Grow developed in line with previous quarters and in line with our expectations.
Regions & Products
Except of France, which includes the impact on R Advertising, all regions show continued healthy growth rates in revenue and stable EBITDA contribution. In the EBITDA result of the 'France & Benelux' region the effect of the reduced R Advertising business is clearly visible.
The gross profit from the influencer network Metapic grew by 58% in Q1, our self-service affiliate platform Grow grew gross profit by 52% and the app marketing platform Appiness grew gross profit by 23%. With these growth rates the new business lines contribute significantly to our growth.
Margins
The decrease of the Gross margin to 20,4% is caused by the reduction of R Advertising business. In the longer run our margins are expected to be stable as the new business lines have higher margins and higher growth rates than business affiliate marketing.
The adjusted EBITDA margin has decreased to 4,2% as we were not able to compensate the decreased income from Email Marketing business by lower costs. We have put measures in place to increase our EBITDA margin again to the levels of previous quarters. While we continue to invest into our business both for affiliate marketing as well as for the new business lines we see that the main efforts are taken by now.
Market
The external market environment continues to be difficult with lower consumer confidence and reduced investments by advertisers. Increased regulation by authorities and continued technical changes by dominant market players like Google or Apple influence digital marketing significantly and require us to be innovative and agile.
While these challenges are clearly visible in our industry, we do not see an effect on our business for the time being. Our portfolio of performance marketing solutions seems to match the needs of our clients for results-focused marketing campaigns. Our proprietary platform and strong technical capabilities help us to adapt to a changing environment.
Our vision is to generate more revenue for our clients than any other partner and we receive encouraging signals from our clients that we are on a good way.
I want to thank my colleagues across all markets and units for their commitment to our business and their great contribution. Their energy drives our success.
Contact information
Matthias Stadelmeyer, President and CEO, telephone +46 8 405 08 00
Viktor Wågström, CFO, telephone +46 8 405 08 00
E-mail: ir@tradedoubler.com
Other information
Tradedoubler discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Markets Act. The information was released for publication on 22 May 2024 at 08.00 a.m. CET. Numerical data in brackets refers to the corresponding periods in 2023 unless otherwise stated. Rounding off differences may arise.
