Thunderful CEO steps down as publisher reports $2m H1 loss
Brjann Sigurgeirsson will remain at the company in a new role within its games division
Change is afoot at Thunderful as the publishing group announced several changes to leadership alongside its latest financial results.
CEO Brjann Sigurgeirsson, who has held the position since the group first formed in 2019, is stepping down to take on a new role within the company's games segment. Former CFO Anders Maiqvist has taken over acting CEO while a permanent replacement is found.
The announcement comes as Thunderful posted a net loss of SEK 21.8 million ($2.1 million) for the second quarter of 2022, and a net loss of SEK 20.7 million ($2 million) for the first half of the year.
The numbers
Q2 2022
Revenue: SEK 618.7 million ($61 million), up 11.1%
Net loss: SEK 21.8 million ($2.1 million), down 206.9%
Adjusted EBITDA: SEK 69.3 million ($6.8 million), up 28.3%
Adjusted EBITA: SEK 31.5 million ($3.1 million), down 25%
Operating profit: SEK 9.4 million ($926,641), down 62.1%
H1 2022
Revenue: SEK 1.2 billion ($118.3 million), up 9.2%
Net loss: SEK 20.7 million ($2 million), down 161.6%
Adjusted EBITDA: SEK 113 million ($11.1 million), down 3.7%
Adjusted EBITA: SEK 58.8 million ($5.8 million), down 39.1%
Operating profit: SEK 14.6 million ($1.4 million), down 75.7%
The highlights
In his comments, Sigurgeirsson attributed to the loss to "significant currency effects," as well as challenges facing its distribution businesses.
On the former, he specifically referred to total financial items of SEK -22.6 million (-$2.2 million) where was "impacted by SEK -33.7 million (-$3.3 million) from unrealised [foreign exchange market] effects."
The company also accounted for a SEK 10 million ($985,508) impairment following disappointing sales of The Gunk, although no further impairments are expected.
Despite the overall loss, Sigurgeirsson claimed this was a strong quarter for its games division, which reported net sales of SEK 114.9 million ($11.3 million) for the three months ended June 30 – a 35% improvement on the same period last year.
Sigurgeirsson also reported Robot Teddy, the business development and strategy agency Thunderful acquired last year, has signed several promising games to improve the company's portfolio.
On his decision to leave his role, Sigurgeirsson wrote: "We are now around 450 colleagues working on a large number of promising projects, and we have an exciting time ahead of us. With that, the time has come for me to step down as CEO of Thunderful Group and for new forces to lead the group as we enter the next phase."
He added: "I will continue in a new role within our games segment and look forward to focusing on game development again."
There were several personnel changes announced alongside these results.
Robot Teddy managing director Callum Underwood is also stepping down for personal reasons, with chief games officer Agostino Simonetta appointed as acting MD in his stead.
Meanwhile, Dieter Schoeller has been named the new vice president of production and will also be taking over leadership of the company's Headup studio.