Better Collective’s revenue came to €38.8m, an increase of 85.6% compared to the first quarter of 2021. Publishing generated €23.8m, while paid media made €14.9m this quarter. This is a year-on-year increase of 24.1% and 823.9% respectively, with the paid growth fueled by Better Collective’s acquisition of pay-per-click specialist Atemi last year.
In terms of the affiliate model break down, revenue share totalled at €17.2m, a rise of 22% compared to the first quarter of 2020. Cost per acquisition revenue, at €16.7m, rocketed 376.5% year on year. Subscription revenue, at €1.7m, and affiliate revenue, at €3.0m, brought the revenue to its final total.
However, the overall rise in the cost of expenses brought the revenue down. Direct costs related to revenue added to €15.1m, a sharp rise of 454.9% compared to Q1 2020. Again, this was heavily related to the Atemi deal.
Staff costs amounted to €7.7m, an increase of 15% year on year. Depreciation costs rose by 2%, while other external expenses increased by 13% year on year. In total, expenses brought earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to €12.7m, an increase of 47.9% compared to the previous first quarter.
Amortisation costs, at €1.5m, and expenses for special items, at €174,000, decreased the total further to €11.4m. Financial expenses and profit tax brought the affiliate’s total profit for the period to €8.3m, a 77.0% increase year on year.
“2021 got off to a strong start with significant growth throughout the business areas and key performance indicators.” said Better Collective CEO Jesper Søgaard.
“The acquisition of Action Network after the closing of the quarter marks our largest acquisition to date, making Better Collective a solid market leader in the US, positioned to fully capitalise on growth in the fast-growing US betting market.”
Better Collective announced its $240m Action Network acquisition last week, a record deal for the business.
In March, Better Collective acquired Sweden’s Rekatochklart.com for €3.8m.