Rovio share price down nearly 20% after latest financial report
Profitability dented as user acquisition costs spike by over 300%
Rovio Entertainment's first quarterly financial report since its IPO on the Helsinki exchange has left a lot to be desired for investors.
The Angry Birds developer was valued at over $1 billion when it went public two months ago.
However, its share price is now down 19.97% following news that the company's operating profit had seen a year-on-year decrease of 70% from €5.2 million to €1.6 million.
While company-wide revenue grew to €70.7 million from €50 million, amounting to a year-on-year increase of 41%, profits were down. Rovio found itself with a pre-tax loss of €500,000, down from €4.6 million over the same period in 2016.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation fell to €6.1 million from €8.5 million, equalling a year-on-year decrease of 28.6%.
Making matters even worse, user acquisition costs spiked 308.7% from €5.4 million to €22.2 million.
"In line with our growth strategy, we significantly increased our investments in user acquisition, which predictably led to a decline in profitability," said CEO Kati Levoranta in a statement.
"Rovio's successful listing on the Helsinki stock exchange at the end of September was evidence of the strong interest in our growth strategy, also in the capital markets."
Rovio's IPO did see the company acquire more than 11,000 new shareholders, raising gross proceeds of €30 million, funds which it plans to use in support of its growth strategy.