UK-based esports organisation Guild Esports has announced a loss of £4.3m over a six month period, ending 31st March 2021.
The figure was revealed following the release of Guild’s unaudited financial results earlier today. The organisation has cited its investment in esports teams, the Guild Academy, content creation, and corporate infrastructure as a factor in the loss.
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In total, the organisation reported administrative expenses of approximately £4.4m.
Also revealed in the financial results were revenues of £368,990 for the six month period. This includes prize money equating to £283,625 and partnership revenues of over £58,000.
The Beckham-backed esports organisation has invested heavily in 2021, with Guild establishing itself across a range of esports titles such as VALORANT, FIFA, and Rocket League. Moreover, the organisation’s online esports training subscription service, Guild Academy, officially launched in May this year.
Kal Hourd, Chief Executive Officer or Guild Esports, commented on the financial results: “In the first six months since our IPO we have executed our strategy of investing in and building best-in-class esports teams, content creators, lifestyle apparel and our academy system, along with a fully supported operations team.
“The launch of the Guild Academy in May 2021 has established a potentially major scalable revenue stream for Guild and will also foster a loyal fan base and source of new talent for the company. The academy is the world’s most comprehensive and innovative esports online training platform and embodies the holistic nature of our approach at Guild.”
Hourd also stated that following partnerships with the likes of Subway, Hyper X. and Samsung, the organisation has secured a minimum of £7.5m in contracted revenue.
The identity of Guild’s ‘secret’ £3,6m sponsor has still yet to be revealed. However, the organisation has revealed that the partner is set to launch in the second half of the year.
In January, the company announced a loss before tax of £2.7m during the financial year between September 3rd 2019 to September 30th 2020.
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In an exclusive interview, Guild Executive Chairman, Carleton Curtis told Esports Insider: “One of the key things I want to stress is that we’re not interested in repeating past mistakes that orgs have made, and in some cases are still making. …We have ambitious goals that’ll probably raise a few eyebrows. But we don’t see how you can be profitable unless you take big swings.”
Guild’s financial report is made publicly available due to the organisation’s public listing on the London Stock Exchange, where it debuted in October 2020 with a market capitalisation of £41.2m
Esports Insider says: Whilst a loss never looks good, Guild’s investments in esports and its academy certainly seems to have played a big part in this figure. It’ll be interesting to see how the organisation’s revenue changes now that the Academy is up and running. The organisation looks to have invested early, with the hope that it can benefit in the long term.