REG - Guild Esports PLC - Annual Results
31/01/2024 11:15
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RNS Number : 5502B Guild Esports PLC 31 January 2024
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation
(EU) No. 596/2014, as retained as part of the law of England and Wales. Upon
the publication of this announcement via the Regulatory Information Service,
this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
Press Release
31 January 2024
Guild Esports PLC
("Guild Esports", "Guild", or "the Company")
Annual Results
Guild Esports PLC (LSE: GILD; OTCQB: GULDF), a global gaming-focused media
business, is pleased to announce its audited results for the year ended 30
September 2023.
Operating and financial summary:
● Created new revenue streams with the launch of Guild Studios, the Company's
production and creative division; and Guild College, providing a career
pathway for young people into professional roles in the esports industry.
● Total order book remaining to be recognised as revenue over the lifetime of
signed contracts amounted to £5m as at year end.
● Signed or renewed sponsorship deals with global brands including Sky Glass,
hummel, Fanatec and Secretlab.
● Strengthened senior leadership team with appointments of Jasmine Skee, CEO;
Luke Jones, VP of Commercial, Esports and Gaming; Nick Westwood, SVP of
Creative and Strategy; Stephen Duval, Special Advisor to the Board; and
Matthew "Charlie" Charles as Director of Operations.
● Deepened relationship with Official Premier Partner Sky Broadband, which
invested seven figures in Sterling, external to existing partnership
commitments, to conduct the 'No Room For Abuse' and 'Sweat Room' media
campaigns together.
● Expanded esports offering by entering Counter-Strike, Street Fighter and sim
racing for the first time. Furthered commitment to supporting women in esports
with launch of all-female Counter-Strike team.
● Executed £0.62m fundraise to facilitate investment into 'Guild Racing',
Guild's sim racing team and provide working capital to support the Company's
growth strategy.
● Total annual revenues increased by 24% to £5.53m (2022: £4.45m), gross
profit increased by 44% to £3.99m (2022: £2.77m), and gross profit margin
increased ten percentage points to 72%, reflecting a diversification of
revenue streams and strategic changes to deliver sponsorship commitments in a
more cost-effective manner.
● Grew Guild's owned audience on social media to 2.8m including a 1.7m rise in
H2 2023 alone following the purchase of TikTok account 'Fortnite24_365', which
significantly expanded Guild's Latin American audience.
● Pre-tax loss almost halved to £4.5m (2022: £8.75m) following a re-evaluation
of sponsorship activations to deliver them more cost-effectively and the
successful implementation of cost-cutting measures.
● Net cash amounted to £0.46m as at 30 September 2023 and £0.8m as at 29
January 2024.
Post-period highlights:
● Received £500,000 from strategic investor 00Nation AS to implement Guild's
strategic drive for its brand and services more deeply into the industry
eco-system as well as to facilitate international expansion.
● Guild Studios appointed as Sky Broadband's Official Activation Partner.
● Expanded Counter-Strike roster with signing of Guild Eagles, representing the
Company's first entry into men's Counter-Strike and bringing Guild a social
media audience of over 115,000 fans.
● Signed one-year UK sponsorship deal with Subway UK to name them Guild's
Official Quick-Service Restaurant Partner, granting Subway branding on Guild's
professional and academy jerseys.
● Entered a six-figure, one-year rolling partnership with eNDX, an esports
player-focused virtual trading platform, to add players from the Company's
Counter-Strike rosters into eNDX's tradable pool.
● Further strengthened the senior team with appointments Paul Kingsley as Chief
Financial Officer and Nathan Pillai as Special Advisor to the Board.
Outlook:
● Current trading is in line with management expectations. Guild's management
believes the business is well placed to develop further relationships with
existing partners whilst leveraging its market-leading and differentiated
proposition, while capitalising on new developments in the sector and changes
to existing eco-systems.
● Guild intends to continue to grow its sponsorships while diversifying
revenues. The Company intends to increase its focus on Guild Studios and the
development of community-focused revenues including the Academy, Guild College
and new technology-enabled products and services.
● International expansion set to accelerate with a particular focus on MENA,
with Guild championing the development of a path-to-pro for young gamers in
the region, enhancing opportunities for female gamers and leveraging Guild's
community-focused assets and programmes to deliver value for shareholders and
wider stakeholders.
● Pipeline of potential new sponsorship deals is growing, with some at advanced
stages of negotiations.
Commenting on the results, Guild CEO Jasmine Skee said: "Guild continued its
positive momentum into 2023, with our results showing rising revenues, falling
costs and strong audience growth. With Guild Studios, Guild College and our
Academy, we've diversified our revenue streams while continuing to attract
global brands as sponsors. With our international expansion beginning and a
strong sponsorship pipeline, we're looking to 2024 with confidence."
The annual report and accounts will be available for download from the
Company's website (www.guildesports.com (http://www.guildesports.com) ) later
today.
For further information please contact:
Guild Esports
Jasmine Skee via Tancredi +44 207 887 7633
Chief Executive
Tennyson Securities
Corporate Broker +44 207 186 9030
Peter Krens
Tancredi Intelligent Communication
Media Relations
Helen Humphrey +44 7449 226 720
Charlie Hobbs +44 7897 557 112
Jasmine Gadhavi +44 7931 435 236
guild@tancredigroup.com (mailto:guild@tancredigroup.com)
About Guild Esports:
Guild Esports PLC is a global gaming-focused media business that fields
professional players in gaming competitions under the Guild banner. Our
Community focused initiatives aim to attract and nurture young gamers and
develop the best esports talent, and our goal is to enable the significant
interest in the eSports & Gaming market whilst building a distinctive
lifestyle brand authentic to the gaming community worldwide. Guild is led by
an experienced management team of entertainment sector and esports veterans
and co-owned by David Beckham. The Company is headquartered in the UK and its
shares are listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (ticker:
GILD) and on the OTCQB Venture Market in the United States (ticker: GULDF).
Please visit www.guildesports.com (http://www.guildesports.com) for more
information.
Notes:
This document contains forward-looking statements which are subject to known
and unknown risks and uncertainties because they relate to future events, many
of which are beyond the Company's control. These forward-looking statements
include, without limitation, statements in relation to the Company's financial
outlook and future performance. No assurance can be given that future results
will be achieved; actual events or results may differ materially as a result
of risks and uncertainties facing the Company.
You are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements, which speak
only as of the date of this announcement. The Company undertakes no obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in its
expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances. Nothing in
this document is or should be relied upon as a warranty, promise or
representation, express or implied, as to the future performance of the
Company or its businesses.
Chairman's Statement
I am delighted to report that Guild Esports welcomed Jasmine Skee as Chief
Executive Officer in January 2023. The team made excellent progress in the
year to 30 September 2023, with growing revenues, expanded esports offerings,
audience growth and an increasingly international footprint. This was
accomplished while dramatically cutting costs and refurbishing the
state-of-the-art Sky Guild Gaming Centre, Guild's London headquarters, which
was completed with investment from Sky Broadband, in addition to its existing
sponsorship commitments.
Total revenues rose by 24% to £5.53m (2022: £4.53m) and losses almost halved
to £4.5m (2022: £8.75m), reflecting new revenue streams and a re-evaluation
of our cost-base to improve margins, allowing us to deliver the same
high-quality services for our partners at a lower cost.
Our 2022 revenues were created primarily from two elements: sponsorship and
prize money. Of the prize money, the majority was kept by our professional
players, with Guild receiving a small proportion. Our sources of revenue for
2023, by contrast, were more diverse with the launch of Guild Studios focused
on activation and events. Sponsorship revenues grew by more than 20% and
remain a core offering, but we have reduced the costs of servicing contracts
and leveraged our sponsorship and inventory rights more effectively, allowing
us to improve gross profit margins. Prize money remained consistent year on
year whilst reducing in share of revenues by nine percentage points.
Importantly, we significantly reduced the fixed costs associated with our
esports teams through increasingly focusing on performance related payments.
We kicked off our financial year by launching Guild College, providing a
career pathway for young people in the esports industry. Guild Studios was
launched in early 2023 providing bespoke, campaign-led solutions for brands
and media owners looking to connect with esports, gaming, Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha
audiences, providing a new revenue opportunity.
Alongside new revenue streams, Guild had a successful year for sponsorships,
partnering with world-class brands across entertainment, sports and
technology. Guild signed with four brands: Sky Broadband, Hummel, Fanatec and
Secretlab. In the post-period, Guild has signed further commercial
partnerships with Subway, naming them Official Quick-Service Restaurant
Partner for the UK and esports trading platform eNDX.
With Guild part way through a multi-year partnership with Sky, and after
having successfully signed a number of high-profile partnerships in 2023,
Guild's existing sponsorship pipeline as at the year end, which is the portion
of signed contracts yet to be recognised as revenues over the lifetime of the
deals, amounted to £5m, of which £0.2m was price conditional on performance
obligations.
Beyond Guild's commercial partnership agreements with several leading
international sponsors, the company has also signed business partnerships with
innovative technology brands to explore long-term, technology driven revenue
opportunities. Our R&D partnership with Gerford AI has seen us complete
our initial research and development phase and we are exploring development of
a digital product surrounding performance in esports and gaming.
The loss before tax fell significantly to £4.5m from £8.75m in 2022,
illustrating the success of our re-organisation programme that supported
developing our existing and new revenue streams whilst greatly reducing the
overheads and related cash requirements of our business. Administrative
expenses fell by £3.51m in 2023 to £7.4m, down from £10.91m in 2022.
Our staff numbers have remained broadly unchanged from 2022, despite costs
falling significantly, which now stand at 32 compared with 36 last year. We
expect this number to grow steadily in 2024, with the potential for
international expansion in the growth market of MENA.
In the post-period we were delighted to welcome Paul Kingsley as our new CFO
and Company Secretary and Nathan Pillai as Special Advisor to the Board.
Nathan has more than two decades' experience as an operator, builder and
investor of blue-chip sport and entertainment properties including Manchester
United, FC Barcelona Chelsea FC, Williams Racing, World Rally Championship and
SailGP. He also has significant exposure to capital markets and high growth
territories.
Net cash as at 30 September 2023 amounted to £0.46m compared with £2.73m at
the same time in the previous year. As at 29 January 2024 net cash had
increased to £0.8m.
Alongside a strong financial performance, our esports teams have continued to
perform strongly at the highest levels of professional esports. It has been
wonderful to watch them compete, and they have brought pride to the entire
company. Next year should be even more exciting as a Guild fan, as Guild has
entered Counter-Strike, Street Fighter and sim racing. Our growing competitive
presence will increase our footprint in the overall esports ecosystem and
create dynamic spectating opportunities for our worldwide online audiences.
Looking ahead, our effective cost-cutting programme and our growing revenues
give great cause to be optimistic, with MENA a key target for international
expansion. We are exploring not only having our teams compete in the region,
but how we can utilise Guild's esports pedigree to generate value for
shareholders and our wider stakeholders. Guild College is building direct
engagement with our young community and the Guild Academy represents a
significant opportunity to provide a clear path-to-pro for young people in the
region.
Our new business pipeline is robust and growing, and we are in discussion with
a number of new partners and sponsors across a variety of sectors and
geographies, with some agreements at advanced stages of discussions.
Guild is well-placed for the next phase of its development and is on track to
continue its positive momentum. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank
all of our staff and partners for their excellent work, and our investors for
their continued support, as we look to 2024 with confidence.
Mr D Lew
Non-Executive Chairman
Strategy and operational review
While the esports sector is forecast to grow to $1.87 billion by 2028 (source:
Statista, 2023), many well-established businesses in the sector have faced
pressures. Under its new CEO Jasmine Skee, who started on 1 January 2023,
Guild enacted a new strategy to take advantage of the sector's growth more
effectively.
Gaming is an immensely popular form of entertainment, and there are expected
to be more than 3.8 billion gamers worldwide by 2030 (source: Midia Research,
2023). In 2023 Guild transitioned away from a pure-play esports brand towards
a wider gaming focus, which has allowed the Company to better take advantage
of the consistent popularity of video games. By continuing to focus on content
creation, Guild can continue to grow its audience and appeal to new
demographics and is well-placed to take advantage of sector growth.
Despite the strategic refocus towards a more diversified business, our esports
strategy remains to establish Guild as one of Europe's top three esports teams
organisations and brands, driven by strong esports performances, innovative
content and global fans. Good progress was made towards these goals, as
Guild's audience grew significantly, Guild's professional players competed
across high-level tournaments and revenues continued to rise.
The Company continues to review its contracted revenue, pipeline, cash
balances and committed expenditure. Based on the directors' assessment of the
Company's cash needs and the availability of financing, the directors consider
the Company to be a going concern and anticipate a fundraising may be required
during the year ahead. A further update will be provided in due course.
New initiatives and business pillars
In November 2022, the Company launched Guild College in a four-year
partnership with post-16 education provider SCL Education, to provide BTEC
Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications in esports. Since Guild College was
announced in November 2022, Guild College has filled 21 spaces on the course
versus a target capacity of 125, due to a limit on the number of students
Guild was allowed to take under the regulations from Pearson.
The Company is exploring international expansion, with a particular focus on
the MENA region. The MENA region is a hotspot for gaming, forecasted to have
more than 88 million gamers by 2028 (source: Statista, 2023). The Company is
utilising its community focused initiatives, including Guild College and the
Guild Academy, to establish a clear path-to-pro for young people in the
region, as well as establish new ways to engage with the growing gaming
audience.
This was followed by the launch of Guild Studios, the Company's creative and
production division. Guild Studios allows the Company to monetise its in-house
experience in esports to support brand owners on individual campaigns,
allowing these brands to authentically engage with their target audiences.
This has proven particularly effective in attracting brands not typically
associated with esports, as these brands look to diversify their customer
bases and appeal to younger audiences. Guild Studios not only widens the
Company's offering to brands, but provides a lower barrier to entry,
encouraging brands not typically associated with esports to collaborate with
Guild to reach new audiences.
Since its creation, Guild Studios has delivered campaigns and activations for
high profile brands including Samsung UK, Coca-Cola, Sky Broadband, Subway and
blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan. Guild Studios has organised activations
and events including assisting in the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S23,
launching the first ever mixed-gender VALORANT tournament and launching an
all-female Rocket League tournament.
In the post-period Guild Studios was named the Official Activation Partner of
Sky Broadband for their 2024 Gaming Plan. Sky Broadband granted Guild Studios
an exclusive mandate to deliver a suite of activation services in the first
half of 2024.
Sponsorships and partnerships
The Company signed or renewed six partners in 2023, taking the total
complement of its sponsors and partners to eight, including Sky Broadband,
hummel, Subway, Secretlab, Fanatec, Pixels AI and Sky Glass.
On 25 April 2023, the Company won a new three-year sponsorship and
merchandising contract with hummel, a well-known sports and lifestyle brand.
Leading sportswear brand hummel has been appointed as Guild's first ever
Technical Kit Partner, generating sponsorship revenues over a three-year term
for Guild, in addition to a double-digit percentage of merchandising sales.
The partnership will develop a new esports professional performance line, as
well as consumer-focused lifestyle ranges and a dedicated kidswear line, with
products potentially to be made available in online stores globally and
physical stores in the UK. The Company's new hummel-created professional shirt
went on sale worldwide in December 2023 with further product ranges to follow
in 2024.
In April it was also announced that Guild and Bitstamp had mutually decided to
end their sponsorship following two years of working together. Bitstamp opted
not to take the third year of the partnership which was optional. This did not
impact Guild's revenue expectations in the current financial year and all
payments for the first two years have been received in full. Following the end
of the Company's sponsorship with Bitstamp, Guild adapted its contracting
process to have more innovative and collaborative relationships with our
sponsors. This has reduced the costs of servicing contracts and allowed Guild
to leverage its inventory and sponsorship rights more effectively moving
forward, which contributed to the notable fall in our outgoing expenses.
In June, the Company signed a technical partnership with Fanatec, a leading
provider of sim racing equipment and hardware designed for gaming and
motorsport. Fanatec provided Guild with six state-of-the-art sim racing rigs,
along with related hardware and regular technology upgrades.
The rigs form the centrepiece of the new Guild Simulator Facility, which
opened at the Sky Guild Gaming Centre in November 2023. As well as serving as
a training facility for Guild's professional esports players, the cutting-edge
simulators provide an additional revenue stream to the Company via
experiential sim racing packages available for corporates, the wider public
and the esports community. In the post-period, Guild launched a memberships
scheme for the sim facility, where budding esports professionals receive two
monthly sessions at the Sky Guild Gaming Centre as well as telemetric data
showing users individualised areas for improvement.
Other new agreements were signed with Secretlab, naming it the Official Gaming
Chair Partner of the Sky Guild Gaming Centre, and Sky Glass became Guild's
Official Television Partner, providing an increase in revenue compared to the
previous deal with Samsung TV.
Our relationships with our key partners have continued to deepen since the
deals were announced, as we collaborate with them on creating unique content
and experiences to reach our fans and followers, particularly Generation Z
("Gen Z").
The Company is exploring the use of artificial intelligence technologies to
appeal to greater audiences, provide more detailed performance feedback to
professional players and discover new professional players. Guild partnered
with Artificial Intelligence developer Gerford AI in March 2023, and since
then completed a comprehensive R&D project that will inform future
products and services.
The Company's pipeline of new business from other potential sponsors is
growing, benefiting from Guild's position as a leading esports brand with
access to a hard-to-reach, young and growing audience.
Update on Strategic Investor
Further to the Company's announcement on 30 October, the strategic investor in
Guild was 00Nation AS ("00Nation"). 00Nation went live in the Nordics in late
2021 and has combined media and wider youth culture with esports. Following
its success in the wider space, 00Nation established a base in the UK in 2023,
and will continue to focus on youth culture while partnering with Guild on
professional esports.
00Nation has to date invested £500,000 in Guild comprising the two tranches
announced on 30 October 2023, which have been delivered in full, making
00Nation a 13.5% shareholder in Guild. Guild and 00Nation remain in active
negotiations concerning the deeper strategic partnership and its accompanying
third tranche of investment, which is dependent on the conclusion of
negotiations.
Esports teams
During the year Guild's teams have competed at the upper echelons of esports
and have maintained a consistently high level of performance. Guild Fortnite
professional player Anas won the 'MrBeast's Extreme Survival Challenge'
tournament in December 2022 (with official confirmation received in January
2023), securing the entire prize pool of US$1m, and in the post-period Guild
player Chico won $200,000 in a global Fortnite tournament. Guild received a
percentage of these winnings in line with contractual agreements with its
pro-players.
In 2023 Guild expanded its esports presence into new games, entering
Counter-Strike, Street Fighter and sim racing for the first time. Guild's
all-female Counter-Strike team, launched in March 2023, is a particular point
of pride for the Company, which has a long-term strategic focus on improving
opportunities for women in esports and gaming alongside its Official Premier
Partner, Sky UK, which is equally committed to promoting viable professional
opportunities for women in esports. Guild furthered its Counter-Strike
presence with the signing of a men's team in August 2023.
Counter-Strike is among the world's most popular esports, with an audience
that is continuing to grow. The Paris Major in March 2023, among
Counter-Strike's most competitive tournaments, had an average viewership of
507,688 across its 116 hours of airtime, peaking at 1,528,724 concurrent
viewers (source: Esports Charts, 2023).
Guild additionally entered Street Fighter, a long-running fighting game with a
growing esports scene. In June 2023, the CR Cup Street Fighter tournament had
more than 313,000 concurrent viewers, making it the most popular video game on
streaming site Twitch at the time (source: Dexerto, 2023).
Following the Company's partnership with Fanatec, the Company successfully
completed a £0.62m fundraise to facilitate investment into the Guild Racing
team roster, allowing the Company to field drivers in professional sim racing.
Guild entered Formula 4 Esports, a sim racing category fully sanctioned by
Motorsport UK, the governing body for motorsport in the United Kingdom, in
July 2023. Sim racing has attracted interest from major players in traditional
motorsport including Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant, Red Bull Racing and
Williams Racing.
Guild now competes across seven esports, which are:
· Counter-Strike, with an all-female team and an open team.
· EA FC 24 (the continuation of the 'FIFA' association football game series).
· Street Fighter
· Sim Racing
· Fortnite
· Rocket League
· VALORANT
Guild released its VALORANT teams on 30 November 2023 and currently does not
have an active roster. VALORANT remains an important part of Guild's long-term
esports strategy and the Company has commenced a search for the teams'
replacement. As at 17 January 2024, the Company's professional player roster
was 22 compared with 17 in January 2023.
Guild Academy
Guild's Academy, since its transition to an in-person only experience in early
2023, has moved from strength to strength, providing world-class esports
facilities and coaching to Guild's existing and potential esports players.
Guild has adapted its esports strategy to focus on Academy players and
building up owned talent, in contrast to the previous approach of purchasing
players already competing at a high level. This has proven effective, as Guild
has continued to perform at a high level but has reduced expenditure and
opened the possibility of improving players at the Academy and then selling
them on for profit. The Academy is beginning to achieve its primary purpose of
developing future professional players and attracting new fans.
Guild has received interest in its Academy from overseas jurisdictions and is
actively exploring how the Academy system can be rolled out internationally.
Guild is initially focusing on MENA but may expand to further jurisdictions in
2024.
Strengthened leadership team
Jasmine Skee started as CEO on 1 January 2023, and throughout 2023 Ms Skee has
taken steps to strengthen Guild's executive team. She recruited Luke Jones as
Vice President of Commercial, Esports and Gaming, Nick Westwood as Senior Vice
President of Creative and Strategy, and Matthew "Charlie" Charles as Director
of Operations.
Stephen Duval joined as Special Advisor to the Board in July 2023, bringing 25
years of experience in the sports, media and entertainment sectors in Europe
and the US, where he has deployed and advised on deals with an aggregate value
in excess of $5 billion. In the post-period, Nathan Pillai joined as an
additional Special Advisor to the Board, bringing more than two decades'
experience as an operator, builder and investor of blue-chip sport and
entertainment properties including Manchester United, FC Barcelona and Chelsea
FC.
Guild's management team demonstrated their commitment to Guild's long-term
strategy by participating in a fundraise in June 2023. Guild's directors
subscribed for a total of £95,000 of new ordinary shares, with subscriptions
made by CEO Jasmine Skee, Non-Executive Chairman Derek Lew, and Non-Executive
Directors Brian Stockbridge and Jocelin Caldwell.
In addition to this, members of the Company's senior leadership team
comprising Director of Operations Matthew "Charlie" Charles, Vice President of
Commercial, Esports and Gaming Luke Jones and Senior Vice President of
Creative and Strategy Nick Westwood made a combined contribution of £24,000.
In the post-period, Guild's management made an additional contribution of
£30,000, with contributions from Jasmine Skee, CEO; Nick Westwood, SVP of
Creative and Strategy; Luke Jones, VP of Commercial, Esports and Gaming;
Matthew Charles, Director of Operations; and Kristina Frost, Director of
Client Services.
Audience
Guild's owned audience stands at 2.8m followers. This is an aggregate of
Guild's Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, Twitter and YouTube channels, as
well as the Guild Eagles, Guild's Counter-Strike team, and Guild owned
accounts. The owned accounts include 'Fortnite24_365' a Spanish-language
TikTok channel with 1.4m followers, of which Guild produces the content and
retains full editorial control.
Guild's significant audience growth on TikTok specifically is in-line with the
Company's long-term strategy to appeal specifically to the Gen Z and Gen Alpha
demographics. 80% of TikTok users are under the age of 44 and 60% are 16-24
(source: Wallaroo Media, 2024). Guild's new TikTok channel has expanded the
Company's international audience and Guild is evaluating how best to generate
further revenue from this new audience to maximise value for shareholders.
All content distributed on Guild's social media channels is created in-house
by Guild Studios. Guild's number of followers across its owned and operated
channels increased by 1.7m in H2 2023 and remains on an upward trajectory.
Alongside audience growth, audience engagement has increased significantly.
Guild's owned channels received 145m impressions in the calendar year 2023,
compared with 64m in 2022. The average daily users engaging with Guild's
channels is 31,000 in 2023, compared with 4,500 in 2022.
Alongside the growth of Guild's owned channels, Guild Studios has allowed the
Company to appeal to greater audiences through Studios' campaign-led approach.
Guild's 'No Room for Abuse' campaign with Sky Broadband received 69m
impressions and its 'Sweat Room' campaign received 1.4m impressions.
The notable growth in impressions both generally and on a campaign-led basis
indicates that Guild's audience is increasingly engaged with its content
compared with 2022. As such, Guild's strategy to become a gaming-led media
brand is bearing fruit.
Outlook
Guild made a good start to the new financial year and current trading remains
in line with management expectations. Guild's new revenue streams started to
bear fruit in 2023, which has made the Company more robust and more
consistently cash generative. Guild's management is looking to expand Guild's
international footprint in 2024, beginning with MENA, as well as expand into
more sectors including betting, motorsport and Counter-Strike brands.
Our pipeline of potential new sponsorship deals also remains robust and
several significant deals are under active negotiations.
Following a significant rationalisation programme, the Company's annual
operating costs have been reduced further year-on-year by approximately
£3.5m, thereby significantly reducing the ongoing cash requirements of the
business. As a result, the Board looks to the future with confidence.
STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
Year ended
Year ended
30 September
30 September
2023
2022
Note £'000 £'000
Continuing Operations
Revenue 3 5,525 4,453
Cost of sales 4 (1,538) (1,686)
Gross profit 3,987 2,767
Administrative expenses 4 (7,397) (10,913)
Depreciation & amortization (844) (430)
Operating loss (4,254) (8,576)
Finance costs 8 (243) (172)
Loss before taxation (4,497) (8,748)
Taxation 7 - -
Loss after taxation (4,497) (8,748)
Other comprehensive income - -
Total comprehensive loss for the year attributable to shareholders from (4,497) (8,748)
continuing operations
Basic and diluted earnings per share - pence 9 (0.82) (1.69)
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
As at As at
30 September 2023
30 September 2022
Note £'000 £'000
NON-CURRENT ASSETS
Property, plant and equipment 10 1,452 1,552
Intangible assets 11 130 220
Right of use assets 12 3,046 3,457
Other receivables 13 143 143
TOTAL NON-CURRENT ASSETS 4,771 5,372
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents 14 459 2,730
Trade and other receivables 15 320 4,049
TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 779 6,779
TOTAL ASSETS 5,550 12,151
EQUITY
Share capital 19 622 519
Share premium 19 23,061 22,644
Share based payment reserve 20 838 650
Retained earnings (24,752) (20,255)
TOTAL EQUITY (231) 3,558
NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES
Provisions 18 346 323
Lease liability 12 2,781 3,204
TOTAL NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES 3,127 3,527
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Trade and other payables 16 1,526 3,401
Deferred revenue 17 707 1,406
Lease liability 12 421 259
TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 2,654 5,066
TOTAL LIABILITIES 5,781 8,593
TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES 5,550 12,151
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
Issued Share Capital Share Premium SBP Reserve Retained Earnings Total Equity
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
As at 1 October 2021 519 22,643 419 (11,507) 12,074
Loss for the year - - - (8,748) (8,748)
Total comprehensive loss for the year - - - (8,748) (8,748)
Share-based payments - - 232 - 232
Warrants cancelled during the year - 1 (1) - -
Total transactions with owners - 1 231 - 232
As at 30 September 2022 519 22,644 650 (20,255) 3,558
Loss for the year - - - (4,497) (4,497)
Total comprehensive loss for the year - - - (4,497) (4,497)
Shares issued during the year 103 519 - - 622
Share-based payments - - 191 - 191
Exercised and lapsed warrants - - (3) - (3)
Share issue costs during the year - (102) - - (102)
Total transactions with owners 103 417 188 - 708
As at 30 September 2023 622 23,061 838 (24,752) (231)
STATEMENT OF CASHFLOW
Year ended Year ended
30 September 2023
30 September
2022
Note £'000 £'000
Cash flow from operating activities
Loss for the financial year (4,497) (8,748)
Adjustments for:
Lease liability finance charge 8 243 172
Amortisation and impairment of intangible assets 90 36
Depreciation on property, plant and equipment 300 91
Depreciation on right of use assets 453 303
Loss on disposal of fixed assets 5 6
Services settled by issue of warrants 188 232
Changes in working capital:
Decrease / (increase)Iin trade and other receivables 3,641 (560)
Decrease / (increase)in trade and other payables (1,875) 2,564
(Decrease) / increase in deferred revenue (611) 534
Net cash used in operating activities (2,063) (5,370)
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of intangible assets - (206)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (205) (1,620)
Net cash used in investing activities (205) (1,826)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from issue of shares - net 520 -
Payment of lease liabilities (523) (146)
Net cash (used in)/generated from financing activities (3) (146)
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents (2,271) (7,342)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period 2,730 10,072
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the period 14 459 2,730
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 31 January
2024 and were signed on its behalf by:
Jasmine Skee
Director and Chief Executive Officer
The financial information set out in this announcement does not constitute
statutory accounts. This financial information has been extracted from the
audited full accounts of the Company for the year ended 30 September 2023. The
Company does not declare a dividend for the period.
The full Annual Report of the Company will be available on the Company's
website www.guildesports.com (http://www.guildesports.com) . The Company's
Annual General Meeting will be convened in due course.
The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this
announcement.
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