Mtg 2019 Annual Report
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An esport and gaming enterprise Shaping the future 2019 of entertainment ANNUAL REPORT CONTENTS Corporate responsibility and sustainability priorities are covered in MTG’s Annual Corporate Responsibility Report, published on www.mtg.com MTG — Annual Report 2019 02 2019 IN BRIEF 03 CEO STATEMENT 06 MTG EVOLVED 10 KEY EVENTS 14 WHY ESPORT MATTERS 18 BUSINESS OPERATIONS 19 SEGMENTAL PERFORMANCE 22 DIRECTORS’ REPORT 23 Business Operations 26 Financial Overview 29 Business Segments 31 Other Group Information 32 The MTG Share 34 Financial Policies and Risk Management 36 Governance and Responsibilities 41 Internal Control Report 42 Board of Directors 44 Group Management 46 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 58 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS 94 SIGNATURES 95 AUDIT REPORT 99 THREE YEAR SUMMARY 100 DEFINITIONS 101 ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES 102 FINANCIAL CALENDAR 0—1 4,242 +10% Sales, SEKm Sales growth +13% Esport sales growth 1,712 Esport sales, SEKm 239 Group adjusted EBITDA, SEKm +141% Growth MTG — Annual Report 2019 STRONG PERFORMANCE – AND BREAKING NEW GROUND It’s impossible to reflect on 2019 without Looking ahead, I believe we have more hard first commenting on the split of MTG into work ahead of us, and the promise of a very two companies in March – Nordic Enter- bright future. tainment and new MTG. This was the con- clusion of a transformative journey that Today, we are the world’s leading esport MTG began several years ago to ensure a company with our investments in ESL and competitive entertainment group that DreamHack, which offer best-in-class could accommodate two strong and rele- national and international events, leagues vant equity stories in a fast-changing enter- and festivals. Esport is one of the most tainment landscape. It was also a commit- viewed and fastest growing sports in the ment to focus on what we strongly believe world. ESL and DreamHack are already will be the entertainment of tomorrow – global brands and the preferred choices for esport and gaming. viewers, players, partners and publishers. Our first year as the new MTG has been “ THE VIDEO GAMING extremely exciting and rewarding. Through- MARKET IS TODAY out 2019, we have continued to develop our business verticals esport and gaming with an WORTH WELL OVER emphasis on becoming even more commer- USD 100 BILLION, cially professional. As a result, we have seen WHICH IS MORE THAN both increased sales, through a transforma- THE MOVIE AND tion from ad hoc to more sustainable revenue streams, as well as a continued improvement MUSIC BUSINESSES of our business profit. And from a strategic COMBINED.” perspective, several important milestones have been achieved: We have launched the We are in a very strong position with key ESL Pro Tour format attracting the best investments in InnoGames and Kongregate. teams in the world, landed new publisher InnoGames runs a portfolio of seven suc- relationships including a multi-year agree- cessful free-to-play games that are played ment with Blizzard, and entered a very prom- on PC and mobile devices, including titles ising strategic alliance with Nielsen – the such as ‘Forge of Empires’ and ‘Elvenar’. leading source of truth for esport sponsor- Kongregate is firmly established as a leading ship valuation and media measurement. publisher of casual and hyper casual mobile and PC games. An important decision we took during the year was to launch a strategic review of our Esport – the future of entertainment gaming vertical, to evaluate possible routes To build and develop a new sport is a journey, to create shareholder value. especially when it comes to creating a highly CEO Statement 2—3 engaged fandom around it. Many sports will Kongregate had a tougher start to the year never move beyond being entertainment for and we made the necessary changes to its As many times before in the history of MTG, the few rather than for the masses, and operational model, focusing more on direct we are venturing into new commercial terri- hence not become a commercially viable publisher relationships, rolling-up success- tories. Our belief in tomorrow’s entertain- product capable of attracting a meaningful ful IPs that we have had a publisher relation- ment – esport and gaming – is strong. Suc- number of eyeballs. ship with and tightening up the total scope cess in creating value will only come of the games portfolio. In the second half of through relevant products, creativity and However, esport is different. The number of the year, the turnaround was clear and innovation. We are in pole position with an gamers worldwide is expected to grow to 2.9 Kongregate ended the year on a high note opportunity to establish MTG as a global billion in 2022, up from 2.4 billion in 2018 – with a strong momentum going into 2020. leader in the esport industry and we will and the global esport audience is expected accelerate value creation by further drawing to grow to 645 million by 2022, up from 395 We are proud owners of two very strong and on synergies from our ownership of the two million in 2018. Games – whether played at relevant companies within our gaming verti- strongest esport brands globally, aided by home on a computer, on the go, or in an cal. The majority stake in InnoGames has cre- our solid financial position and commercial esport arena by an esport professional ated significant value, and Kongregate has operational expertise. – represent a major commercial opportunity. made impressive progress in 2019. At the Esport fans have unique characteristics com- same time, I believe the gaming industry is at Breaking new ground, we will rely on our pared with other sports. They are young, a crossroads. Looking into 2020 and beyond, heritage and approach to always focus on well-educated with higher than average it will require much more to stay relevant and commercial innovation and products which income than other sport fans and are infa- competitive. More resources are required to resonates with our customers. This will mous for being difficult to reach through make the necessary investments in our exist- enable us to continue to be strongly com- marketing (70% use ad-blockers). This makes ing businesses. Deeper pockets are needed mitted to bringing the best possible enter- them a relevant target group for any com- to capture new opportunities to broaden our tainment to all esport and gaming fans pany wanting to rejuvenate its brand and portfolio. During 2019 and since the split, we around the globe. expand its business beyond its traditional have been approached by financial and base by getting exposure to these interesting industrial investors with various alternatives target groups. to make us even more competitive going for- ward. We want to always act in the best This is one reason why we continue to be interest of our shareholders, and that is why thrilled about the future prospects of esport we launched our strategic review in 2019. as an entertainment product. And through- out 2019, we have introduced structural The strategic review measures to realize the full commercial – crystalizing hidden value value of esport, including a new league The purpose of the strategic review is to structure named ESL Pro Tour providing cer- evaluate the best ways to create and crys- tainty and longevity, a strategic partnership talize value for shareholders. The Board of with Nielsen to gather trustworthy statistics Directors and management team continue from events, and expanded our publisher to believe that a separation of the gaming relationships to include even more exciting and esport verticals, which would allow triple A games. We are also pleased with the them to adopt their own financial structures agreement with Blizzard around their and independent strategic objectives, is the acclaimed titles StarCraft® II and Warcraft® best way of accomplishing shareholder III: Reforged™. With these measures in value . place, I feel we are in a good spot in the industry to become a strong alternative and In pole position with a bright future ahead competitor to traditional sports for media In the beginning of 2020 the global society and brands. and economy was significantly impacted by the new corona virus pandemic. Equally Gaming – a highly exciting impacted was MTG’s esport vertical which industry at a crossroads is built around large live events with media InnoGames achieved good growth in 2019 rights, brand partnerships and many with strong development of its existing attending fans who purchase tickets and games portfolio, especially Forge of Empires. merchandise. However, as esport is digital Improved customer lifetime value throughout by design it has the potential to offset some the year has provided us with an opportunity of the negative impact as MTG and its port- to invest in marketing for future growth. Dur- folio companies continue to deliver great ing 2019, InnoGames has been working on entertainment by moving to online compe- both newly released games such as Warlords titions and thereby creating new business and new games. The result is four new excit- opportunities. In this difficult period it has ing games to be released during 2020 – all of been crucial that all decisions by MTG and them mobile first and built on our expertise in its group companies are taken with the game development. well-being of colleagues, fans, teams and customers in mind. MTG — Annual Report 2019 CEO Statement 4—5 MTG EVOLVED – THE HOME OF E SPORT AND GAMING ENTERTAINMENT MTG continues to establish its position as a leading operational and investment company within esport and gaming entertainment. OUR APPROACH MTG’S VISION is to become the home of esport and gaming entertainment. MTG’S MISSION is to grow the esport and gaming ecosystem and benefit its communities through relevant story telling with craftmanship, innovation and sustainability at its center.