Bragg Gaming Group Inc

TSX:BRAG

Earnings Call Transcript 2020-Q3

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. And welcome to the Bragg Gaming Group Q3 2020 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Mr. Yaniv Spielberg, Chief Strategy Officer. Thank you. Please go ahead.

[Yaniv Spielberg, Chief Strategy Officer & Company Secretary]

Thanks, Jimmy. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our Third Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. During today's call, we'll review Bragg's financial and operating results for the third quarter of 2020. Following our prepared remarks, we'll open the conference call to a question-and-answer session. The call today will be led by myself, Bragg's Chief Strategy Officer, Ronen Kannor, Bragg's Chief Financial Officer; and Adam Arviv, interim CEO. I'd like to start the call with some brief cautionary remarks regarding certain statements that may be made on the call. Certain statements made on this conference call and our responses to various questions may constitute forward-looking information or future-oriented financial information within the meaning of applicable securities law. Statements about expected growth, prospective results, strategic outlooks and financial and operational expectations, opportunities and projections, rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events, including market and economic conditions, business prospects or opportunities, future plans and strategies, technological development and anticipated events, trends and regulatory changes that affect the corporation, its subsidiaries and their respective customers and industries. While we believe these assumptions to be reasonable, they are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the corporation's control, which could cause the actual results, performance or achievement of the corporation to be materially different. There can be no assurances that these assumptions or estimates are accurate or that any of these expectations will prove accurate. For a complete discussion of these factors, please refer to our recently filed press release and other publicly available disclosure documents that we set out today. So with that said, good morning, everyone, and thank you for taking the time to join our earnings conference call. On today's call, I'll provide a business update as well as walk you through our recent operational and corporate developments. Following my comments, our CFO, Ronen Kannor, will run you through our financial results for the third quarter. I'm pleased to announce that we had another very strong quarter, experiencing exceptional and exponential growth and making continuous progress executing on our business strategy. We also welcome 2 new members to our management team. Adam Arviv, who's our interim Chief Executive Officer; and Richard Carter, former CEO of SBTech, who was appointed as a non-executive chair of our Board of Directors. I'll provide a few more details on this later. I'll now address Oryx's performance. As you guys are aware, Oryx offers a full turnkey retail, online, mobile and iGaming platform as well as advanced content aggregators for both lottery and marketing and operational services. We continue to grow rapidly, building on the growth trajectory established in 2019, which is continuing strongly into 2020. Revenue grew rapidly in the third quarter to EUR 11.7 million. This represents 72% increase from Q3 of 2019 and the third consecutive quarter of significant quarter-over-quarter growth. We've completely transformed the business throughout the first 9 months of 2020 and have seen great success from our efforts. Revenues for the first 9 months were 74% higher than the revenues in the same period of 2019. We attribute this growth to a number of initiatives we've undertaken, all falling under 3 key pillars of growth. The 3 key pillars of growth within Oryx that we have made and been focusing on are onboarding new customers and increasing wallet share of current customers, enhancing our technology and product offering and diversifying our revenues by expansion into new geographies. I'll provide an update on our activities within each of these areas now. Onboarding of new customers. We signed agreements with 14 new customers in the quarter and have additional customers in late-stage discussions. Our robust pipeline has continued to grow throughout this year, and we have very high level of customer retention, having not lost a customer since Bragg inception in December of 2018. We're now focusing on signing larger, longer-term deals with larger operators where we offer more platform services. The Oryx offering is unique, and we continue to win market share. The second pillar is the enhancement of the technology and product offering. Oryx's primary growth comes from casino product and aggregator platform. We now offer over 10,000 casino games that are seamlessly integrated and can be accessed through a single player account management system. These games are provided by over 80 of the industry's leading content providers such as Gamanza, Red Tiger, Kalamba and many others. This quarter, we launched 11 new games and continued to invest in partnership with these content providers in order to provide an all-encompassing portfolio, which is unique and localized in nature. We continue to invest in platform enhancements even more so now with the uptick in traffic due to the increase in virtual games and activities, of course, as a result of the pandemic. New features that we've rolled out include real-time tournaments and leaderboard tools, which enable operators to set up slot tournaments across multi game providers with a real-time data feed, which also allows players to track and compare their performance compared with others, taking player engagement to the next level and increasing retention. This also translates to higher KPI for our customers or the operators. We've also included data analytics platform, which allows for real-time collection and analysis of data from internal as well as third-party systems, enabling operators to gain a better understanding of their customer and more effectively target and engage them. All these new features are available through a simplistic single integration. We closed contracts and integrated a significantly faster pace than industry standard with a staff of 2 to 4 weeks compared to sometimes 3 to 6 months in the industry. We continue to diversify and expand into new geographies. Our global customer base and footprint is growing with new customers coming onboard each quarter. We also continue to focus on customer diversification, both by geographic expansion and by decreasing our dependency on our top 10 customers. In terms of diversification, we're pleased to say that our customer concentration is improving with only 62% of the revenues coming from the top 10 customers, down from 76% in 2019 for the 9 months that ended in Q3. In terms of geographies, this quarter, we entered 2 new geographies, Denmark and Latvia. We'll continue to build out our presence in other geographies, including licensing efforts in the U.K., where we anticipate continued success. The U.S. market, of course, is a key target for us in 2021 with the market expected to grow nearly threefold by 2025. There are a number of players in the U.S. market that we've -- we are very comparable to and have the same or very similar offerings. So in 2021, we're focused on increasing our market share in the United States and the North American market. The group also has exposure to revenues derived from customers who are predominantly German-facing end users. Germany is on course to be one of Europe's top largest regulated gaming market, and licenses are anticipated to be issued to online casino operators by July 2021. The near-term impact of the changing regulatory landscape in the German market is likely to create negative revenue headwinds. However, our view is that in the medium and long term, the introduction of more regulatory and -- regulation, similar to other established regulated markets, will over time offset these negative headwinds as operators utilize more traditional marketing channels, such as television and print media, which, of course, in turn, will help increase participation and eventually the overall market size in the German market. The group will continue to monitor how the German market adjusts to the new regulatory framework. And is already closely working with its German-facing operators on helping to mitigate future adverse conditions. With that said, I would like to turn the call over to Ronen Kannor, our Chief Financial Officer, who will run you through the third quarter results and guidance.

[Ronen Kannor, Chief Financial Officer]

Thank you, Yaniv. Good morning, all. I'd like to run through the third quarter highlights. First, to start with, all figures are presented in euros. So the group revenue for the first quarter for the revenue -- for the quarter ended September 30, increased from the same period in the previous year by 72% to EUR 11.7 million as opposed to quarter 3 '19, was EUR 6.8 million, maintaining solid quarter-on-quarter revenue growth since Q1 '19. Q3 revenue was slightly down by 3.3% compared to Q2 2020, but this is due to seasonality. In order to demonstrate in a better way, what drives our performance, we introduced operational KPIs for the first time in this quarter. Total bets that tracks usage of our platforms were up 95% from the same period last year, totaling EUR 3.3 billion of total bets. The amount of unique players also increased by 89% to 1.8 million. These strong growth numbers demonstrate solid demand stemming from our unique content portfolio and continental technological advantages. Gross profit increased compared to the same period in the previous year by 73% to EUR 5.1 billion as opposed to quarter 3, 2019, was EUR 2.9 million with subsequent margin increasing by 0.3 basis points to 43.3% as opposed to 43% last quarter, mainly as a result of revenue classification between turkey projects and games during the quarter. Group profitability continues to improve with adjusted EBITDA increasing from the same period in previous year by EUR 1.6 million to EUR 1.8 million as opposed to Q3 '19, was only EUR 0.2 million, with subsequent adjusted EBITDA margin increasing by 13.1 basis points to 15.7% compared to quarter 3 '19, was only 2.6%. This is achieved the result of reaching high scale and tight cost control. Total net loss for the period increased by EUR 3.1 million versus EUR 3.2 million last year, mainly as a result of increase of loss of remeasurement of the deferred and continued consideration in the period to reflect the fifth amended agreement between KAVO and the group. With regard to the 9-months or year-to-date highlights, the group revenue increased from the same period in the previous year by 74%, reaching EUR 32.6 million as opposed to last year, was only EUR 18.8 million. The group's revenue growth was mainly in the games and content services, and demand for the group unique games and content proposition continues to grow. The group -- the company's growth has been underpinned by continued investment in innovation and technology and product offerings. Adjusted EBITDA amounted to EUR 4.3 million as opposed to EUR 0.3 million last year, with margin increasing by 11.8 basis points to 13.2% compared to last year, was only 1.4%. Operating loss amounted to EUR 6.6 million loss comparing to EUR 5.2 million loss last year. However, in order to reflect the most effective way, the underlying performance of the group on a like-for-like basis, excluding the increase in remeasurement of the deferred and contingent consideration, the adjusted operating income for the period amounted to EUR 1.7 million positive as opposed to last year, which is EUR 2.4 million negative, a significant improvement due to the scale reach, operational leverage and cost control. Cash flow from operating activities amounted to EUR 6.7 million during the 9 months ended September 30 as opposed to negative EUR 1.8 million last year, mainly because of working capital movement. Cash flow used in investment activities amounted to EUR 1.8 million as opposed to EUR 2.2 million last year, which is attributable mainly to the capital and software development costs. The cash and cash equivalents as of September 30, amounted to EUR 5.2 million as opposed to the beginning of the year, which is 31st of December, EUR 0.7 million. Total assets or the current asset as of September 30, amounted by EUR 13.6 million as opposed to beginning of the year, was EUR 8.3 million. And total current liabilities amounted EUR 49.1 million as opposed to EUR 20.8 million last -- in the beginning of the year, in which EUR 33 million attributed to the earn-out payments composed of EUR 22 million to the served in shares and EUR 11.3 million to be served in cash. I would also like to discuss the recent financing we closed just last week. We announced that the company has closed its previously announced bought deal and short-form prospectus offering of units at a price of $0.70 per unit for total gross proceeds of CAD 20.7 million, which includes the exercise of over-allotment option in full. Under the offering, 29.5 million units were sold by a syndicate of underwriters, including Cormark Securities, Canaccord Genuity Corp., together with the co-bookrunners of Haywood Securities, Paradigm, Capital and Eight Capital collectively. We plan to use the proceeds of the offering predominantly to satisfy the payment due to the contingent consideration. And also should be used for growth initiatives, working capital and general corporate purposes. Just to remind you all, the total numbers of common shares as of September 30 were 18.3 shares (sic) [ 18.3 million shares ], which we had an additional 27 million warrants and 1.6 million special compensation warrants as well and 9.9 million fixed stock and options to employees and directors. But as of today, the 23rd of November, there was an increase of about 35 million common shares between the reporting date and this announcement, predominantly for the 29.5 million common shares as a result of the offering. And also 5.5 million shares as a result of exercise of warrants in the last few weeks.Looking ahead, we anticipate strong finish of the year with the final weeks of 2020. We've already experienced solid trading momentum in Q4. We are comfortable with our 2020 financial year guidance. And for 2021, we focus to be in the range of EUR 47 million to EUR 51 million, which is CAD 73 million to CAD 79 million. And adjusted EBITDA for '21 to be in the range of EUR 6.3 million to EUR 6.7 million, which is CAD 9.8 million to CAD 10.4 million. Looking ahead, our strategy is to focus on growing our B2B gaming solution through Oryx. We continue to invest in our platform and integration capabilities in order to provide the best product and service to our customers. We're focused on growing our international reach in regulated markets and strengthening our client base. And following the raise we closed last week, we believe we are well capitalized and positioned to move ahead and execute our strategic priorities. With that, I would like you to know that, if interested, you can find more detailed information about the financial performance from the 30th financial statements and management discussion analysis on the SEDAR, and on our Investor Relations page on our website, Bragg Games (sic) [ bragg.games ].I'll now turn the call over to operator for a Q&A session.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from David McFadgen with Cormark Securities.

[David John McFadgen, Director]

A couple of questions. Maybe I'll just start off with the guidance for 2021. So you stated in your prepared remarks that with the legalization in Germany, there'll be some revenue headwinds. So I'm just wondering, does the guidance incorporate the revenue headwinds that you expect in Germany? And can you give any more details about that?

[Yaniv Spielberg, Chief Strategy Officer & Company Secretary]

Ronen?

[Ronen Kannor, Chief Financial Officer]

Yes, yes. So yes, we incorporated -- I mean we provided the guidance, and we also said that -- even said that we build around EUR 6 million hit to our numbers. So we have literally double hit in some respect. On one hand, we projected EUR 6 million decline because of the regulatory headwinds this year, 2020, '21. But also, we didn't take into account any growth rate on Germany. So we initially have a dollar sold here. On one hand, we don't have the growth we anticipate in the last 2, 3 years, we're growing about 40%, 60% this year. So we didn't count any kind of revenue for next year from Germany, at all. And definitely, we also added another EUR 6 million hit in our numbers. So just to give you some kind of a like-for-like. So if you took the hit out, of the EUR 6 million, we were growing by 27% like-for-like. If we increase -- adding another growth in Germany, even 10% growth, we will be in around 35% year-on-year -- like-for-like year-on-year. So this is our projection. This is our -- I mean it's very difficult to explain now at this stage, which we have literally 1.5 months when the transition period started. Very difficult to monitor different behavior of customers. What we're seeing within some customers that we are -- we see them performing in line with our expectations, some of them below our expectations. But as you probably know, and I think we'll discuss about it on the 15th of December, there's going to be another stage of new rules going to be imposed on operators. You won't be able to make a spin or a bet within 5 seconds, and -- between 1 stage. And also, we know there's going to be EUR 1 limit on 1 particular bet. So that's what we've incorporated in our numbers.

[David John McFadgen, Director]

Okay. Okay. That's helpful. And you put out a press release a few days ago about Swiss Soft (sic) [ SoftSwiss ]. Can you give us an idea of how big that customer could be or the relevance to that customer? I'm not very familiar with that company.

[Yaniv Spielberg, Chief Strategy Officer & Company Secretary]

Yes. So it's just -- yes, thank you, sir. So it's a multistate operator that we just onboarded onto the platform. I mean it's hard for us to say today how big it's going to be, but it's been performing well within the expectations. So we anticipate that it's going to be a good customer, especially given the fact that it's a multistate operator.

[David John McFadgen, Director]

Okay. And sorry, maybe just 1 follow-up just on the guidance. Are you expecting much out of the U.S. market? Or is that just excluded from the guidance to be conservative?

[Ronen Kannor, Chief Financial Officer]

It's excluded from the guidance.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Ed Sollbach with Spartan.

[Edward Sollbach, Associate Portfolio Manager MM Fund]

Congrats on the results. I'm looking at the '21 guidance. How much are you forecasting COVID in terms of helping your results?

[Ronen Kannor, Chief Financial Officer]

It's interesting because what we saw in the last couple of months since H2 to H -- Q2 to Q3 and Q4, we didn't see much effect when Q2, a lot of companies, a lot of countries actually went through a lockdown. But we saw that because of our organic growth, majority of the revenue remained almost stable. So we didn't take into account any kind of additional tailwind in that respect. We just assumed that this is going to be a change globally. A lot of operators will use online going forward, regardless. So we didn't factor it positively, we didn't factor it is going to be a decline because of that. So we just continue with our organic growth rate, which is embedding what actually is going on in the market today.

[Edward Sollbach, Associate Portfolio Manager MM Fund]

Okay. Well, then in terms of 2020, how much -- I mean do you consider yourself a stay-at-home stock? How much was the positive results impacted by the COVID, the lockdowns in terms of people turning to online gaming?

[Ronen Kannor, Chief Financial Officer]

So the best way for us to demonstrate, if you look at the Q1 and Q2 numbers, we had a growth from Q2 to Q1, about 38% growth. But we also onboarded about 33 customers in the last -- in the first quarter into the second quarter. So we intended to work on a basis, it's about 10% to 15% as a one-off because we're not indicating anything in the quarter going forward. But this is what we saw, if we're comparing the numbers like-for-like, we did analysis, this is on 10% to 15%. But since Q2 onwards, because of the amount of customers we onboarded, I don't think we -- the thing is that we didn't make any changes to that and I think it's going to be the new reality. So it's not reflected differently or in other way in 2021.

[Edward Sollbach, Associate Portfolio Manager MM Fund]

Okay. Well, that's interesting. So you think it's more organic growth than a COVID tailwind?

[Ronen Kannor, Chief Financial Officer]

Yes.

[Edward Sollbach, Associate Portfolio Manager MM Fund]

And then your '21 results are also more organic. You're not thinking there's a headwind from maybe a vaccine or something?

[Ronen Kannor, Chief Financial Officer]

No, no. We didn't take into account any kind of -- this is what nobody knows. Secondly, we didn't take into account -- of course, there's going to be seasonality. The seasonality might change because of lockdowns. But we already saw it in the last 7, 8 months. So it didn't really make any significant impact on the portfolio of customers we have.

[Edward Sollbach, Associate Portfolio Manager MM Fund]

Okay. And then second question, in terms of cash, I know you have a lot of warrants that are expiring end of the month. What are your thoughts in terms of use of proceeds from the cash? Assuming that there -- you want to exercise?

[Ronen Kannor, Chief Financial Officer]

So majority, we have sitting about 23 million warrants to be expired in the end of this month. We definitely have the new 14 million warrants that we just issued on the new fund rate. And they have different conditions, of course. As we said, we're going to use them for working capital first, future opportunities. We're looking for a different type of an M&A even, and enhancement to our product/portfolio of gains and other corporate needs. But this is predominantly where we're going to use that. We don't have a -- we have a big roadmap of what's the expansion going to look like, but we didn't put them specifically for one of them. But definitely, it's nice to have the cushion in the balance sheet. Definitely will support any future M&A or enhancement of our portfolio.

[Edward Sollbach, Associate Portfolio Manager MM Fund]

Okay. So in terms of your roadmap, you're looking at cash acquisitions and what type of acquisitions would you be looking at?

[Ronen Kannor, Chief Financial Officer]

We are talking -- from our perspective, there are 3 main pillars for that. First of all, enhancing our content. As you know, if you look at our profit and loss, we have -- we're selling content. We are selling our iGaming platform, and also we're selling content and games. Majority of the games we're offering is exclusive to us, or long-term contract is exclusive to us. We definitely want to actually improve our profitability by acquiring content. If it's currently serving us with new content, we're going to locate and trace that's going to support our potential growth. So this is one of the things. Secondly, we have M&A of further businesses, which is compete or doing exactly as we are doing and also to expand and increase market share. So this is another opportunity that we're always talking about. And of course, new opportunities around the world of partnership with a strategic partnership that we need the cash flow for that particular case. So we have 3 buckets. And we're looking at them every single time. But there are also other opportunities out there.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] I'm showing no further questions in the queue at this time. I'd like to turn the call back to Yaniv Spielberg for any closing remarks.

[Yaniv Spielberg, Chief Strategy Officer & Company Secretary]

Thank you, everyone, for joining the call today and your interest in the Bragg story. We appreciate your time and look forward to providing updates on our progress over the next few months. Thank you, everyone.

[Ronen Kannor, Chief Financial Officer]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference for today. You may now disconnect.