Gfinity Plc Annual Report & Financial Statements 2020
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GFINITY plc | Annual Report & Financial Statements 2020 Gfinity plc Annual Report & Financial Statements 2020 1 GFINITY plc | Annual Report & Financial Statements 2020 2 GFINITY plc | Annual Report & Financial Statements 2020 Contents STRATEGIC REPORT 06 Directors, Secretary and Advisers 07 Period Highlights 08 Gfinity At A Glance 10 Chairman’s Report 12 Chief Executive Officer’s Report 14 Chief Financial and Operating Officer’s Report 16 Principal Risks and Uncertainties GOVERNANCE 24 Corporate Governance 25 Board of Directors 26 Board Composition and Performance 28 Directors’ Remuneration Report 31 Directors Report 33 Statement of Directors’ Responsibilities FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 36 Independent Auditor’s Report 42 Group Statement of Profit and Loss 43 Group Statement of Comprehensive Income 44 Group Statement of Financial Position 45 Company Statement of Financial Position 46 Group Statement of Changes in Equity 48 Company Statement of Changes in Equity 50 Group Statement of Cash Flows 51 Company Statement of Cash Flows 52 Notes to the Financial Statements 3 Annual Report & Financial Statements 2020 STRATEGIC REPORT GFINITY plc | Annual Report & Financial Statements 2020 GFINITY plc | Annual Report & Financial Statements 2020 STRATEGIC REPORT Directors, Secretary and Advisers The Board of Directors Legal Advisers Neville Upton Corporate (Chairman) Fladgates 16 Great Queen Street John Clarke London WC2B 5DG (Chief Executive Officer) Commercial Jonathan Hall (Chief Financial and Operations Officer) Onside Law 642A Kings Road Preeti Mardia Fulham (Non-Executive Director) London SW6 2DU Andy MacLeod (Non-Executive Director) Registrars Link Asset Services Company Secretary The Registry 34 Beckenham Road Jonathan Hall Beckenham Kent BR3 4TU Registered Office 35 New Bridge Street Financial Public Relations London EC4V 6BW Teneo 5th Floor, 6 More London Place Nominated Adviser London SE1 2DA and Broker Canaccord Genuity Limited Registered Number 88 Wood Street 08232509 London, EC2V 7QR Independent Auditors Rees Pollock Chartered Accountants 35 New Bridge Street London EC4V 6BW 6 GFINITY plc | Annual Report & Financial Statements 2020 STRATEGIC REPORT Period Highlights Higher margin revenue “A year of transition, with a new streams management team and a clear targeted operational focus” Financial highlights £2.8m Gross Profit ■ Focus on higher value and higher margin revenue streams, driving 167% improvement in gross profit to £2.8m (2019: £1.0m) despite a reduction in revenue to £4.5m (2019: £7.9m) ■ 36% reduction in adjusted operating loss to £5.5m (2019: £8.6m). (Excluding restructuring costs, the adjusted operating loss reduced by 40% to £5.2m) 50% reduction in ■ Operating cost base reduced by 50% due to major operating cost restructuring of business in March 2020 base ■ Adjusted administrative expenses of £8.3m (2019: 9.6m), down 13% year on year. (Excluding restructuring costs, adjusted administrative expenses down 17%) ■ Cash and cash equivalents at year end of £1.6m (2019: 36% £0.6m), plus £2.0m of unexercised warrants. Following reduction the significant cost reduction announced in March 2020, in adjusted this leaves the business well capitalised to deliver against operating loss the market opportunities in the growing esports sector Business Highlights ■ Strategic review completed in March to sharpen Business operational focus and define clear plan for growth and monetisation well ■ Significant growth and expansion of newly launched capitalised digital media group, Gfinity Digital Media - expected to generate revenue of over £2m in financial year 2021 ■ Focus on establishing partnerships to leverage expertise – Expanded relationship with Premier League to deliver and deliver innovative new ideas that capture the ePL, ePL USA and ePL Invitational Tournament imagination of gamers around the world ■ Additional appointments by NBA, HP Omen esports and – Five-year agreement with Abu Dhabi Motorsport Willow TV Management (ADMM) to deliver the Global Racing Series (GRS) ■ Gfinity Esports Platform (GEP) developed to include four tech IP owned products; Competition, Game Control, – Partnered with BT Sport to deliver a series of celebrity- Community and Virtual Production led gaming entertainment shows – Partnered with Viacom CBS to deliver Street Fighter Post-Period Highlights experiential event at Vidcon London 2020 ■ Gfinity Plus launched for the Company’s online community, ■ Selected by world’s biggest brands to provide esports providing incentives, discounts and chat functionality solutions, part of its commitment to building communities ■ Season 4 of F1 Esports Series to be delivered virtually by for others Gfinity utilising proprietary virtual production service – Multi-year agreement with Formula 1 for F1 Esports ■ First product of Global Racing Series, the V10 R-League, Series. Production of “Making an esports champion” goes live with commercial distribution rights signed with and delivery of F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix BT Sport, STARZPLAY Arabia and ESPN – Selected to partner with Amazon to design, develop ■ Appointed by Cadbury to deliver a new gaming and deliver The Twitch Prime Crown Cup tournament in the UK 1 Adjusted Operating Loss is the operating loss before depreciation of property, plant and equipment, amortization and the share-based payment charge. For consistency with prior years, the figure does include depreciation charged on right of use assets that were recognised as operating leases in the year ended 30 June 2019. 2 Adjusted Administrative Expense is administrative expenses, adjusted for the same items as in the Adjusted Operating Loss. 7 GFINITY plc | Annual Report & Financial Statements 2020 STRATEGIC REPORT Gfinity At A Glance About Gfinity INVESTMENT SUMMARY Gfinity (AIM: GFIN) is a world leading esports business. Created ■ A market leader in large and fast-growing sector by gamers for the world’s 2.7 billion gamers, Gfinity has a unique ■ Business model evolved to reflect rapidly developing and understanding of this fast-growing global community. It uses COVID-19 impacted market this expertise both to provide advisory services and to design, develop and deliver unparalleled experiences and winning ■ Clear plan for growth and monestisation - owned; co-owned; strategies for game publishers, sports rights holders, commercial and fee plus partners and media companies. ■ Sharpened strategic focus in 3 areas where we have traction Gfinity connects its partners with the esports community in and competitive advantage, each with strong revenue levers: authentic and innovative ways. This consists of on and off- 1. Gfinity Digital Media Group line competitions and industry leading content production. Relationships include EA SPORTS, Activision Blizzard, F1 Esports 2. Partnerships Series and the Forza Racing Championship. 3. Building communities for others utilising owned Tech IP Gfinity connects directly with tens of millions of gamers each ■ Underpinned by continued focus on consumer insights month through its digital media group, Gfinity Digital Media. Gfinity Digital Media includes websites such as: Gfinityesports, RealSport101 and StealthOptional and their respective social channels. All Gfinity services are underpinned by the Company’s proprietary technology platform delivering a level playing field for all competitors and supporting scalable multi-format leagues, ladders and knockout competitions. Growth of esports KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN SECTOR Young consumers have said no to passive entertainment, traditional television. And a big yes to interactive entertainment, which is gaming. Gaming is now fully mainstream and it is massive. 2.7bn $159bn 9.3% 518m $1.3bn 22% Global gamers Global gaming YoY growth Global esports Global esports YoY growth market audience market ■ Gaming activity significantly increased during lockdown period ■ Move away from major in person events to online activity and virtually produced content ■ Entering into peak period for gaming related spend with new console launches and related release of new titles ■ Significant growth in traffic to gamer centric/hobbyist websites Source: Newzoo, 2020 8 GFINITY plc | Annual Report & Financial Statements 2020 BUILD COMMUNITIES FOR OTHERS DIGITAL MEDIA GROUP (OWN) PARTNERSHIPS (CO-OWN) (SERVICE/ LICENSE BASED) ■ Wholly owned, gamer centric ■ Ideas that capture the ■ Commercially viable programmes websites imagination for publishers, sport rights holders, brands and media ■ 12 million users 641% growth in ■ Partners that value and benefit organisations 12 months from our expertise ■ Utilise company owned tech IP ■ Optimised for ad serving. Q3/ – Creative; production; game Q4 2020 - bumper period for the operations; community ■ Design esports programmes and DEVELOP industry due to launch of new building; commercial competitions games consoles ■ True partnership - shared – virtual and on-line investment, paid for services, – reason to care content shared risk, shared commercials ■ Community building - written and video content ■ Continue to grow existing sites ■ Abu Dhabi Motorsport ■ Formula 1 Esports - multi-year Management - 5 year partnership agreement ■ Innovate - 3 new language sites added ■ Global Racing Series - First ■ ePremier league - on-line and product, V10 R-League offline events ■ New gamer hobby sites ■ New innovative formats, ■ BT Sport - world class production ■ New advertising and video designed for broadcast DELIVERY services delivery partners ■ Activision Blizzard - UK’s only Call ■ Top racing teams; global of Duty World