TORONTO, May 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bragg Gaming Group Inc. (TSXV: BRAG, OTC: BRGGF) (“Bragg” or the “Company”) announced its financial results for the three-months and year-ended December 31, 2019 today. Bragg is pleased to announce that it achieved revenue growth of 41 per cent year-over-year in 2019 on a pro forma basis, if Oryx was owned by Bragg for the entirety of 2018, with total revenue of €26.6 million (C$40.57 million), gross profit of €12.0 million (C$18.30 million), and “Clean EBITDA” (as defined below) of €1.2 million (C$1.83 million). The Company returned a positive Clean EBITDA for the first time. (1)“2019 was Bragg’s first full year of operations, and we’ve taken significant strides to establish ourselves as one of the fastest growing B2B providers in the gaming space,” said Dominic Mansour, CEO of Bragg. “We experienced record revenue growth throughout 2019 and reached positive EBITDA in the fourth quarter.”“The strong growth can be attributed to four key factors,” continued Mr. Mansour. “The seamlessness of our integration process allowing us to swiftly and nimbly grow our operator base; the unique and local content, advanced, market leading features and player engagement tools through the Oryx Hub aggregator platform; the number of notable new client wins establishing us as a key partner in the space; and the growth of regulated revenues combined to put us in a market-leading position.”2019 Operational Highlights and Business Advancements
Key highlights from the Company’s performance in 2019 include:Bragg’s wholly-owned subsidiary Oryx has accelerated growth and increased new operators being integrated, including Unibet, Betsson, Fullreto.co, Leo Vegas , Fav Bet and Bet Clic.Completing several platform enhancements to Oryx’s core platform, including Oryx Hub, a new data analytics platform, and a new player engagement platform.Continuing geographic expansion and diversification of Oryx’s revenues. The Company’s dependence on its top five clients steadily decreased throughout 2019, with only 46 per cent of total revenues derived from its top five clients in December 2019, down from 73 per cent in December 2018. In addition, Oryx partnered with operators across new physical territories, and entered lucrative regulated markets including South America (Colombia) and the U.S.Forming a strategic partnership with Kambi, a well-established provider of premium sports betting services with an extensive client base in the U.S. Along with Kambi’s sports betting services, Bragg provides their casino services and unique player account management (PAM) system to operators worldwide. The first joint deal signed is with New York’s Seneca Gaming Corporation (SGC), which operates all of the Seneca Nation’s Class III gaming operations in western New York. The Bragg and Kambi teams will collaborate to provide SGC with a combination of their services and products across SGC’s three New York casinos.Completing a strategic review of the Company’s online media division, including GiveMeSport and GiveMeBet assets. The Company announced a third-party strategic review of these assets in August 2019 and concluded the review in January 2020. In May 2020, subsequent to the close of fiscal 2019, the Company announced a definitive agreement for Sn&ck Media Limited to acquire GiveMeSport. Pursuant to the definitive agreement, Bragg will receive a total consideration of up to €400,000 (C$.61 million) for the media division assets. The consideration for the acquired assets consists of a blend of a cash payment on closing and deferred consideration. “We have recovered a major portion of our missed 2019 EBITDA target, which was negatively affected by revenue recognition, in the first quarter of 2020,” noted Mr. Mansour. “We will recover the remainder by 2020 year-end. With the completion of the GMS sale, we are now cash-flow positive and able to focus 100 per cent of our resources and energy on enhancing the Oryx platform and expanding our presence worldwide. In 2020, our team is focused on leveraging existing relationships with complementary service providers, to offer enriched content and player account management system to operators and optimizing the business to enter more regulated markets.”2020 Financial Guidance
The Company forecasts revenue for 2020 to be in the range of €35 million (C$53.38 million) to €38 million (C$57.95 million) (versus actual 2019 revenue of €26.6 million (C$40.57 million), an increase of up to 43 per cent versus 2019, with “Clean EBITDA”(1) for 2020 of €5.5 million (C$8.39 million) (versus actual 2019 “Clean EBITDA” of €1.2 million (C$1.83 million)), which would represent a larger increase due to continuing improvements in cost efficiency as the Company continues to scale. The Company’s revenue and EBITDA are currently ahead of its forecast with current trading over the last 30 days being double the same period last year.Impact of COVID-19
While acknowledging the widespread adverse impact of the global pandemic on people and businesses globally, Bragg has not experienced a negative performance impact. Online businesses, such as casinos, have seen increased traffic, as people choose to seek safe entertainment alternatives they can enjoy in their own homes. Bragg derives the majority of its revenues from online casino operators, and has minimal exposure to sports betting, which has been impacted by the lack of professional sport. With the future of the global economic markets still uncertain, Bragg has chosen not to revise its 2020 forecasts.Oryx Earn-Out Extension and Financing
The Company has entered into an amending agreement with K.A.V.O. Holdings Limited, as vendor (the “Oryx Vendor”), pursuant to which, among other things, the earn-out payment otherwise due to the Oryx Vendor on June 30, 2020 has been extended to September 30, 2020. The Company has engaged Canaccord Genuity Corp. to, among other things, provide financial advisory services in connection with financing the earn-out payment due to the Oryx Vendor on September 30, 2020.CFO Change
Due to personal reasons, Bragg’s Chief Financial Officer, Steven Prowse, will step down from his role with the Company effective immediately. Ronen Kannor will step in and take over the role of Chief Financial Officer, effective May 15, 2020.“I would like to thank Steven for his hard work and contributions to Bragg,” said Mr. Mansour. “Our team wishes him good health and success in the future. We welcome Ronen to the team, an industry veteran who will be vitally important as we execute on several exciting strategic initiatives over the next few months.”Financial Year 2019 Conference Call Information
Dominic Mansour will host the conference call along with Yaniv Spielberg, Bragg’s Chief Strategy Officer. The conference call is scheduled to take place on May 14, 2020, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. To join the call, please use the below dial-in information:
US: +1 270 215 9892
US (toll-free): +1 866 997 6681
UK: 0 800 917 4860
Passcode: 9792139A replay of the call will be available for seven days following the conclusion of the live call. In order to access the replay, dial +1 404 537 3406 or +1 855 859 2056 (toll-free) and use the passcode 9792139.For more information, please see the consolidated financial statements of the Company for the three-months and year-ended December 31, 2019, including the notes thereto, and the related management’s discussion and analysis, which are available electronically on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under Bragg’s issuer profile.About Bragg Gaming Group
Bragg Gaming Group Inc. (TSXV:BRAG, OTC:BRGGF) is a next generation gaming group with cutting-edge technology, leading brands and world-class management expertise, developing into a global gaming force. Formed by a team of gaming industry experts, Bragg’s main portfolio is Oryx Gaming, an innovative B2B gaming technology platform and casino content aggregator.Through this brand and targeted acquisitions, Bragg is focused on becoming a leader within the evolving global gaming industry. Learn more at https://www.bragg.games.For Bragg Gaming Group, contact:
Yaniv Spielberg, CSO, Bragg Gaming Group
+1-647-800-2282
info@bragg.gamesFor media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Lina Sennevall, Square in the Air
lina@squareintheair.comFor investor inquiries, please contact:
Tim Dawson, Bragg Gaming Group
+1-289-276-1167
tim@bragg.gamesFor US investor inquiries, please contact:
Laine Yonker, Edison Group
+1-646-653-7035
lyonker@edisongroup.comCautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking InformationThis news release may contain forward-looking statements or “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws (“forward-looking statements”). Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or describes a “goal”, or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved.All forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statements were made. Actual results or events may differ from those predicted in these forward-looking statements. All of the Company’s forward-looking statements are qualified by the assumptions that are stated or inherent in such forward-looking statements, including the assumptions listed below. Although the Company believes that these assumptions are reasonable, this list is not exhaustive of factors that may affect any of the forward-looking statements. The key assumptions that have been made in connection with the forward-looking statements include the following: 2020 financial forecasts; the ability of the Company to obtain financing to pay the earn-out payment due on September 30, 2020; the impact of COVID-19 on the business of Bragg; the countercyclical growth of the business of the Company; the regulatory regime governing the business of Bragg; the operations of the Company; the products and services of the Company; the Company’s customers; acquisition opportunities; the growth of the Company’s business, which may not be achieved or realized within the time frames stated or at all; and the anticipated size and/or revenue associated with the gaming market in the U.S. and globally.Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, future events, conditions, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, prediction, projection, forecast, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: risks associated with general economic conditions; adverse industry events; future legislative and regulatory developments; the inability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources; the inability to access sufficient capital on favorable terms; realization of growth estimates, income tax and regulatory matters; the ability of Bragg to implement its business strategies; competition; economic and financial conditions, including volatility in interest and exchange rates, commodity and equity prices; the estimated size of the gaming market in the U.S. and globally; changes in customer demand; disruptions to our technology network including computer systems and software; natural events such as severe weather, fires, floods and earthquakes; and risks related to health pandemics and the outbreak of communicable diseases, such as the current outbreak of COVID-19.Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.Any forward-looking statement made by the Company in this news release or the earnings call is based only on information currently available to the Company and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company nor any of its management or directors undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.Non-IFRS Financial MeasuresStatements in this news release make reference to “Clean EBITDA”, which is a non-IFRS (as defined herein) financial measure that the Company believes is appropriate to provide meaningful comparison with, and to enhance an overall understanding of, the Company’s past financial performance and prospects for the future. The Company believes that “Clean EBITDA” provides useful information to both management and investors by excluding specific expenses and items that management believe are not indicative of the Company’s core operating results. “Clean EBITDA” is a financial measure that does not have a standardized meaning under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS“). As there is no standardized method of calculating “Clean EBITDA”, it may not be directly comparable with similarly titled measures used by other companies. The Company considers “Clean EBITDA” to be a relevant indicator for measuring trends in performance and its ability to generate funds to service its debt and to meet its future working capital and capital expenditure requirements. “Clean EBITDA” is not a generally accepted earnings measure and should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net income (loss), cash flows or other measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS.Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
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