Danish esports organisation Astralis has revealed its financial results for 2022 in a 52-page annual report which included a letter to shareholders, finance details, an auditor’s report and a future outlook from the company’s Board.
Key highlights of the report included increased revenues — DKK 88m (~£10.3m) in 2022, DKK 75m (~£8.8m) in 2021 — as well as a decrease in overall loss and a positive EBITDA.
The overall cash and cash equivalents for Astralis at the end of the year totalled DKK 9.9m (~£1.1m), down from DKK 23m (~£2.7m) in 2021. For comparison, the company started 2021 with DKK 52m (~£6m) in cash. Percentage-wise, Astralis spent around 55% of the cash available at the start of the year in both 2021 and 2022.
The increase in revenue has been credited to revenue generated by PIXEL TV (DKK 2m or ~£230,000), the Astralis Nexus (DKK 4.5m or ~£530,000) and higher earnings from competitions (~£4.3m in 2022, ~£3.75m in 2021).
It’s also interesting to note though that Astralis’ sponsorship revenue increased in 2022 (DKK 42.2m or ~£5m) when compared to 2021 (DKK 38.5m or ~£4.5m).
When looking at 2021’s financial figures, Astralis has significantly reduced its loss, but the company is still not profitable. The overall loss was reduced from DKK 35m (~£4.1m) to DKK 9.7m (~£1.1m) in 2022. Astralis attributes this to slightly lower staff costs as well as depreciation and amortisation, among other segments. For example, player rights were reduced from DKK 16.8m (~£2m) in 2021 to DKK 186,000 (~£21,800) in 2022. Astralis had a total of 94 employees at the end of year, compared to 80 at the start.
In a financial report for the first half of 2022, Astralis A/S CEO Anders Hørsholt stated an expectation to achieve a positive EBITDA of DKK 0-5m for 2022. This ultimately ended up happening, with the organisation recording its first-ever positive EBITDA of DKK 2.6m (~£305,700) in 2022, up from last year’s DKK -7.9m (~£928,800) in 2021.
The company echoed the expectations of a positive EBITDA for 2023 in the report and noted that it wants to be as transparent as possible with its finances.
Hørsholt commented on the results: “We see a continued growth in our revenue streams and despite investment in players and the performance organisation, we have managed to maintain the level of costs. That is of course very positive and a result of the great work of a dedicated, professional organisation.
“The challenges in the market continues, however, with a stronger Counter-Strike set-up and team, new digital initiatives and continued growth in our retail leg, we are in a good position, and we expect to repeat the positive EBITDA of 2022 in 2023.”
