Thunderful H1 revenue gets a 4% bump
CEO talks of "mixed results" for Q3 but distribution revenue increases due to ongoing Tears of the Kingdom sales and a continued effect from the Mario movie
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Thunderful Group has released its latest earnings report, which showed that its H1 2023 net revenue grew by 4%, while its Q3 saw a decrease of 9%.
As a publisher, it saw three game release during the quarter, while the six-month game revenue period also benefitted from the continued good performance of its distribution services.
Here's what you need to know:
The numbers
Q3 (three months ended September 30, 2023)- Total revenue: SEK 626.2 million ($59.4 million, down 9% year-on-year)
- Games revenue: SEK 90 million ($8.5 million, down 24%)
- Profit: SEK 24.7 million ($2.3 million, down 14.7%)
- Net revenue: SEK 1.86 billion ($176.5 million, up 4%)
- Games revenue: SEK 304 million ($29 million, down 3%)
The highlights
Thunderful's distribution services accounted for 85% of its Q3 total revenue.
Thunderful's business is largely driven by the toys and games distributors it owns and operates – most notably Bergsala, the exclusive Nintendo distributor for the Nordic region and select other markets.
Bergsala's distribution revenue comprised SEK 260 million ($24.6 million) of the SEK 536 million ($51 million) of the Q3 distribution business.
On the publishing side, Q3 also saw the group releasing Viewfinder, Astronimo, and Islanders.
Additionally, the report noted that Martin Walfisz took on the role of Thunderful CEO in August. Walfisz offered his assessment of the game's firm Q3 performance.
He said, "Thunderful Group delivered mixed results for the third quarter. The Distribution segment continues to perform well, primarily due to strong development in Amo Toys and continued good results from Bergsala. The Games segment only had one major release during the quarter with the game Viewfinder."
For H1, Bergsala's distribution revenue amassed SEK 842 million ($80 million) of the SEK 1.56 billion ($148 million) distribution total. The report highlighted the releases of Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and demand for Mario titles following the release of the film earlier this year.
It said, "Bergsala's sales are up compared to the comparison period driven by the successful release of the game The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, continued good access to hardware, and strong underlying demand from Nintendo's successful release of The Super Mario Bros [Movie]. Nordic Game Supply is adversely affected by lower market demand in general, particularly in the higher price categories."
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