SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Catena Media Plc has initiated a tender process to appoint a new independent auditor for the Stockholm-listed iGaming media group.
This morning, markets were notified that the board of Catena has begun the process of electing an auditing firm to validate its corporate accounts for the financial year ending 31 December 2025.
As detailed: “This process was initiated in accordance with the EU Audit Regulation (EU) No. 537/2014, which mandates that public interest entities rotate their statutory auditors after a maximum engagement period of ten years. It also follows article 151A of the Maltese Companies Act.”
The update provided no details as to which auditing firms Catena has engaged with, stating that “the preferred bidder will be subject to shareholder approval at the Company’s 2025 Annual General Meeting (AGM).”
Navigating a troubled 2024, Catena continues to transition to a new operating model for its media network and partnerships under the guidance of the new leadership team of CEO Manu Stan and CFO Michael Gerrow.
Taking leadership in H2, Stan and Gerrow wiped out all corporate targets, as Catena suffered consecutive quarterly slumps. Year-to-date revenues fell by 37% to €39.5m, while adjusted EBITDA decreased by 84% to €3.9m.
Undertaking a review of its media network, Catena laid off 29 marketing employees—a decision deemed necessary to ‘rightsize’ the firm’s operations and balance sheet—projecting “cost savings of €2.2m, effective from 1 November 2024.”
For 2024 trading, Catena has booked a €40m impairment charge on corporate accounts attached to a writedown of underperforming media assets.
Leadership maintains Catena’s long-term strategy to transition its media network and partnerships to a new operating model bolstering US growth and new AI initiatives. The firm’s balance sheet will be strengthened by secured cashflow of €22m generated from the former sale of European assets of AskGamblers (€15m) and Italian assets (€7m).
