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Better Collective A/S states that it has exceeded financial expectations in revenue and earnings following a transformative year for its business, which acquired seven new media properties for €300m.
Year-end trading sees the Stockholm and Copenhagen listed media group’s revenues stand at €327m (FY2022: €269m), alongside an EBITDA result of €110m (FY2022: €85m).
Corporate results outperformed the enhanced targets of Better Collective, revised in June 2023, which detailed revenues of €315m to €325m and an EBITDA result of €105m to €110m. The FY2023 results imply growth of 21% and 31%, respectively, as Better Collective declared €80m (FY2022: €70m) in operating profits.
Achieving its highest-ever revenue and EBITDA results, Better Collective hailed its diversified media portfolio, which services 270 million monthly visits both organically and through M&A, enabling it to reach a sports audience of roughly 400 million monthly visitors.
A breakdown of units saw the Better Collective publishing network generate revenues of €220m, up 18% on FY2022’s comparative results of €187m, with an operating profits contribution of €78m.
Completing the key migration of North American contracts to revenue-share models, Better Collective informed investors that recurring revenue—mainly stemming from revenue share income—grew by 47% to €189m.
Group CEO Jesper Søgaard commented, “In 2023, a great team effort across the group secured a prosperous year marked by profitable growth, all while continuing our strategic investments to lay the foundation for the future.
It brings me great satisfaction to witness the ongoing development of engaging sports content and the expansion of our audiences across our sports media brands, all while consistently providing value to our partners. 2023 stands out as a year where we made significant progress towards our vision of becoming the leading digital sports media group.”
Better Collective underscored the improved marginal efficiencies in paid media, which saw the unit double its contribution in operating profits to €30m (FY2022: €13.5m).
Overall, Better Collective targets were achieved despite tough Q4 trading, in which corporate revenues remained stagnant at €85m. Period trading was dragged down as US results were impacted by ongoing transitions to revenue share contracts, with EBITDA slumping by 15% to €30m.
On North American developments, investors were informed, “The North American contractual transition towards revenue share continues at a fast pace. In terms of NDCs, Better Collective sent 483,000 NDCs during the quarter, with 115,000 sent in the US, where 55% of those were on revenue share contracts. This equals growth in North American revenue share NDCs of 66%.”
Q4 trading saw Better Collective execute its second-largest M&A transaction, acquiring Playmaker Capital for €176m to strengthen Better Collective’s North American network and expand its presence in new Latin American markets.
Completing the Playmaker deal in February 2024, Better Collective revisited its long-term financial targets for the period 2023-2027, upgrading its long-term financial targets to a revenue CAGR of +20% (unchanged) and an EBITDA margin before special items of 35-40% (previously 30-40%).
Commenting on the 2024 outlook, CEO Jesper Søgaard stated, “I am excited to share our bold 2024 financial targets, expecting revenue of €390m to €420m, implying 19-29% growth, and EBITDA of €125m to €135m, implying 13-22% growth, with net debt to EBITDA to stay below 3x. We will thereby maintain strong operational earnings while confidently continuing our investments in the future.
All of this could only be achieved with a talented and dedicated group, and therefore I would like to thank all my colleagues at Better Collective for their outstanding efforts. I also welcome our new colleagues who have become part of the Better Collective group during the past year.”
