Gentoo Media has reported a 9% year-on-year drop in Q2 revenue to €22.9m (£19.3m), with management citing the impact of the remote gaming duty hike in Great Britain and underwhelming World Cup performance as key factors.
In the company’s results announcement on Wednesday, 26 August, management said the decline was partly due to “changes in UK market economics” in the wake of remote gaming duty rising from 21% to 40% as well as “the continued impact of the portfolio simplification undertaken in 2025”.
The share price is down by around 25% at the time of writing to SEK5 (£0.38).
Gentoo Media stock has slumped almost 40% over the past 12 months as the Stockholm-listed affiliate continue to be battered by tax and AI headwinds.
While the World Cup led to an “meaningful increase” in player intake and record for value of deposits, this did not translate into an immediate revenue uplift, management said, citing softer sports margins and how revenue is recognised for new acquisitions.
Key Q2 figures included:
- First time depositors stood at 101,900, while the value of deposits was an all-time high of €207m.
- Player deposit volumes stayed above €200m for the third consecutive quarter
- EBITDA before special items increased 5% YoY to €8.9m, with a margin of 39% – up from 34%
- Revenue share arrangements with operators represented 60% of total revenue, while CPA accounted for 12% and listing fees and other revenue made up the remaining 28%
Commenting on the affiliate’s plans for the remainder of 2026, CEO Jonas Warrer said the clearest priority was returning the business to top-line growth.
“The operational and organisational changes implemented over the past year have created a leaner business with a structurally stronger margin profile,” he said. “We enter the second half with a larger and more active player base, a more scalable paid channel and a publishing organisation increasingly focused on its highest-potential brands.”
Warrer added the task for Gentoo Media was to convert strong player activity into revenue growth.
On the back of the fall in revenue in Q2, the affiliate’s full-year guidance has been updated “to reflect the current revenue trajectory and our expectations for the remainder of the year”.
Revenue for the first half of 2026 was €46.9m, below the level required to reach the previous guidance of €100m to €115m in revenue, bosses said.
The revised guidance is revenue to hit between €97m to €100m, with EBITDA before special items of €44m to €47m having previously been set at €49m to €54m.
Gentoo Media dropped one spot to fifth in the 2026 EGR Power Affiliate rankings.
Speaking to EGR, former STS CEO Mateusz Juroszek said the affiliate was “extremely cheap” and “delivered so much cash” – Juroszek is on the board of directors at Gentoo Media and the family investment firm Betplay Capital is the affiliate’s biggest shareholder.
The post Gentoo Media shares slump after World Cup fails to deliver Q2 boost first appeared on EGR Intel.
Market reacts after management announces a revision to full-year 2026 guidance as Q2 revenue falls 9% YoY to €22.9m
The post Gentoo Media shares slump after World Cup fails to deliver Q2 boost first appeared on EGR Intel.