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Interim Report 2021-01-01 - 2021-06-30 INTERIM REPORT 2021-01-01 - 2021-06-30 INTERIM REPORT 2021-01-01 - 2021-06-30 *Please note that this is a translation for infor- mation purposes only - in case of any discre- pancies between this version and the Swedish, the Swedish version shall prevail. Paradox Interactive AB (publ) • Org.nr: 556667-4759 • Magnus Ladulåsgatan 4, 118 66 Stockholm • www.paradoxinteractive.com 1 INTERIM REPORT 2021-01-01 - 2021-06-30 INTERIM REPORT 2021-01-01 - 2021-06-30 SECOND QUARTER 2021 AFTER THE END OF THE PERIOD • Revenues amounted to MSEK 403.0 (MSEK 464.9), a decrease by 13 % • No significant events have occurred after the end of the period. compared to the same period last year. • Operating profit amounted to MSEK 111.4 (MSEK 199.0), a decrease by 44 % compared to the same period last year. • Profit after financial items amounted to MSEK 110.3 (MSEK 197.7), and profit after tax amounted to MSEK 88.3 (MSEK 154.5). • Cash flow from operating activities amounted to MSEK 262.3 (MSEK 278.5), and cash flow from investing activities amounted to MSEK -212.3 (MSEK -148.4). • By the end of the period cash amounted to MSEK 651.0 (MSEK 637.2). • Earnings per share amounted to SEK 0.84 (1.46) after dilution. • Revenues in the quarter are mainly attributable to Cities: Skylines, Crusader Kings III, Europa Universalis IV, Hearts of Iron IV and Stellaris. IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE SECOND QUARTER 2021 • Four expansions were released during the period; Nemesis for Stellaris, Leviathan for Europa Universalis IV, Second Chances for Prison Architect and Federations for Stellaris: Console Edition. • The group’s employees continue to work from home to reduce the spread of Covid-19. ABOUT PARADOX • At the Annual General Meeting on May 18, Andras Vajlok was elected as a new The Paradox group today consists of both publishing and internal development of board member. Josephine Salenstedt declined re-election. games and brands. The game portfolio includes more than 100 titles and Paradox owns the most important brands, including Stellaris, Europa Universalis, Hearts of • PDXCON was held as a digital event 21-23 May. A Paradox Publisher Weekend Iron, Crusader Kings, Cities: Skylines, Surviving Mars, Prison Architect, Magicka, Age was held on Steam in connection to the event. of Wonders and the World of Darkness catalogue of brands. From the start in 2004, the company has published its games all over the world, initially through physical distribution but since 2006 primarily in digital channels. Paradox games are developed primarily for PC and console platforms, but the company also releases games on mobile. The largest markets today include the US, UK, China, Germany, France, Russia and Scandinavia. Today, over five million gamers play a Paradox game each month and the number of registered Paradox users exceeds 20 million. Paradox Interactive AB (publ) • Org.nr: 556667-4759 • Magnus Ladulåsgatan 4, 118 66 Stockholm • www.paradoxinteractive.com 2 INTERIM REPORT 2021-01-01 - 2021-06-30 COMMENTS FROM THE CEO A quarter for celebrating the players As we close the books on the first half of 2021, I The cornerstone of our most successful games are Remixed, a 72 hour digital celebration of our look back at six months where we’ve continued to active, loyal, and enthusiastic players. They are fantastic fans and the games they love. Our players’ strengthen and develop our important player base and a source of feedback, ideas, content and energy engagement could be clearly seen in the record high our core within strategy and management games. We that make our games even better and long lived. participation; the convention’s events and content continue to attract new players and I am proud that we Our developers and community teams put a lot of has been viewed over 3.5 million times and we had have reached a new milestone: over 20 million players effort into the dialogue with our players in order to over 250 000 unique viewers during the weekend. with PDX Accounts! One of our strengths is our loyal nurture a stronger community around the games, Over the convention weekend we also held a and recurrent players, which can be seen in a strong for example at our annual convention PDXCON. Due successful Publisher Weekend on Steam. and stable monthly player base of over 5 million. to the pandemic, the event was held as PDXCON Paradox Interactive AB (publ) • Org.nr: 556667-4759 • Magnus Ladulåsgatan 4, 118 66 Stockholm • www.paradoxinteractive.com 3 INTERIM REPORT 2021-01-01 - 2021-06-30 We also took the opportunity to announce a very special game that we’ve worked on for a number of years; Victoria 3. Victoria 3 is the sequel in one of our most mythical franchises and has been requested for many years. Victoria, our Grand Strategy franchise that takes place in the Victorian era is known for its complex systems for handling politics and populations. Victoria 3 is also an example of the backbone of our growth; our ability to develop and nurture games that can grow in both content and audience over an extended time period by continuous releases of new content. The announcement was received with great enthusiasm and now our full focus is on developing an entertaining and long-lasting game that meets our players’ expectations. The quarter has also featured two of our most beloved games, Hearts of Iron IV and Stellaris, celebrating their fifth anniversaries. Half a decade after launch, they continue to place themselves on our top five list of our best-selling titles and have to date sold over three and four million base game copies respectively since launch. One of the many unfortunate effects of covid-19 is that the pandemic affects the pace at which we can develop and publish new content. Even though our growing player base lays a solid foundation for future growth the number of releases in the past two quarters did not reach our level of ambition. Revenues for the second quarter decreased by 13% and profit before tax by 44% compared to the same period last year. For the last twelve months, revenues increased by 11% whilst profit before tax decreased by 24% compared to a year earlier. The quarter's revenues Paradox Interactive AB (publ) • Org.nr: 556667-4759 • Magnus Ladulåsgatan 4, 118 66 Stockholmtockholm • www.paradoxinteractive.com 4 INTERIM REPORT 2021-01-01 - 2021-06-30 and results are impacted by the weakening of the well growing and adjusting our organization in order USD and other major currencies against the SEK from to be able to meet our highly set ambitions. Now the second quarter of 2020. The quarter's profit is we can finally plan for a “post-COVID world” and I also affected by the cancellation of an unannounced really look forward to gathering all our teams at our externally developed project. In connection with the offices around the world and increasing the pace of cancellation, we have written down the value of the development in our projects. game which burdens the profit before tax by 42 MSEK. Ebba Ljungerud, CEO Our growth is based on our ability to release high- quality games within the strategy and management segments that can be developed with new content over a long time. In the quarter we have continued to work intensively to strengthen the preconditions for this. We have increased the focus on our core as Paradox Interactive AB (publ) • Org.nr: 556667-4759 • Magnus Ladulåsgatan 4, 118 66 Stockholm • www.paradoxinteractive.com 5 INTERIM REPORT 2021-01-01 - 2021-06-30 DLC DLC STELLARIS - NEMESIS STELLARIS: CONSOLE EDITION - FEDERATIONS PC XBOX, PLAYSTATION Nemesis is an expansion to Stellaris in which the player will be able to The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. determine the fate of a destabilizing galaxy. Adding espionage tools, With Federations, players can extend their diplomatic dominion a path to power as the Galactic Custodian to combat endgame crises over the galaxy like never before. - or the Menace option to BECOME the endgame crisis - Nemesis gives you the most powerful tools ever available in Stellaris. Paradox Interactive AB (publ) • Org.nr: 556667-4759 • Magnus Ladulåsgatan 4, 118 66 Stockholm • www.paradoxinteractive.com 6 INTERIM REPORT 2021-01-01 - 2021-06-30 DLC DLC EUROPA UNIVERSALIS IV - LEVIATHAN PRISON ARCHITECT - SECOND CHANCES PC PC, XBOX, PLAYSTATION, SWITCH In Europa Universalis IV: Leviathan expansion, you get new tools to Prison Architect: Second Chances gives your inmates a fresh start centralize and accumulate power for your country. New diplomatic with reform and rehabilitation features, helping them improve beha- actions give you the means to go up against mightier counterparts viors and reduce sentences. and new economic tools will allow you to establish rich vassal empires that draw wealth and development to your monumental capital city. Paradox Interactive AB (publ) • Org.nr: 556667-4759 • Magnus Ladulåsgatan 4, 118 66 Stockholm • www.paradoxinteractive.com 7 INTERIM REPORT 2021-01-01 - 2021-06-30 REVENUE AND PROFIT SECOND QUARTER REVENUE AND PROFIT SECOND QUARTER The write-downs for the period in the item amount Operating profit amounted to SEK 111.4 million (SEK Revenues amounted to MSEK 403.0 (MSEK 464.9), to MSEK 42.0 (MSEK 0.0) and pertain to a yet unan- 199.0 million), a decrease of 44%. Without the wri- an decrease by 13 % compared to the same period nounced game where the development has been te-down for the period, operating profit would have last year. New downloadable content for games was cancelled.
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