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Cherry's Year End Returns Sweet Enough for CEO

Published March 4, 2019 by Lee R

According to the year end report, an eventful 2018 has ended with sustainable development for Cherry.

Q4 Gains

A sweet Q4 was highlighted by a 49 percent increase in consolidated revenue to MSEK 904 (608), with organic revenue growth up 41 percentage points.

Corporate acquisitions contributed 0.5 percentage point and currency 7.5 percentage points.

The quarter also saw profitability up as EBITDA increased 40 percent to MSEK 198 (141) with an EBITDA margin of 22 percent (23), translating out to total profit for the period of MSEK 120 (18).

Earnings per share before and after dilution amounted to SEK 1.14 (0.05) and SEK 1.14 (0.05) respectively.

Takeover Department

In takeovers, Cherry's independent bid committee voted in favor of shareholders accepting a public offer of SEK 87 in cash per Class A and B share in Cherry AB from European Entertainment Intressenter BidCo AB (“EE Intressenter”), a company jointly controlled by a consortium of Bridgepoint and major shareholders in Cherry AB.

Expansion

Companies in the online gaming business area secured a total of eight Swedish gaming licenses in December in advance of the new open Swedish market in 2019.

Organisational Developments

In organisational developments, an Extraordinary General Meeting in November elected Rolf Åkerlind as the newest member of the Board while approving the acquisition of the remaining five percent of the shares in Game Lounge Sweden AB.

The Yearly Totals

For the year, consolidated revenues at Cherry increased 44 percent to MSEK 3,236 (2,252), with organic growth contributing 3 percent, corporate acquisitions contributing 1 percentage point and currency contributing 8 percentage points.

Profitability improved effectively as EBITDA increased 89 percent to MSEK 813 (429) and EBITDA margin came in at 25 percent (19).

This translated to profits for the year of MSEK 487 (110). The profit total received a significant boost from the reassessment of holding Highlight Games affecting comparability of MSEK 50.

Earnings per share before and after dilution in 2018 amounted to SEK 4.45 (0.53) and SEK 4.44 (0.53) respectively.

CEO Shines on 2019

Overall, Cherry's CEO called Cherry's development excellent, meeting organisational expectations in advance of a new year characterised by high channelization, where rapid advances in gaming technology and the new Swedish market will most significantly impact Cherry's expansion.