Nazara Technologies Q1 profit hits Rs 13.5 cr, revenue up 45%

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Nazara Technologies has reported net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2021 (Q1 FY22) at Rs 13.50 crore, against the loss of Rs 21.70 crore reported a year ago. 

The gaming company saw its operating revenue touch Rs 131.20 crore with a 45% increase from Rs 90.50 crore during the same period a year ago. Sequentially, the revenue saw a quarter-on-quarter increase of 6.3% from Rs 123.40 crore in Q4 2021. 

“The Q1 FY22 results revenue growth and especially enhanced ebitda margins demonstrate intrinsic strength & profitability of the underlying businesses across all of three growth segments. However, we will continue to prioritize strategic growth over margin optimization to ensure that we continue to achieve and maintain leadership in segments we operate,” Manish Agarwal, CEO at Nazara, said while commenting on the results.

Segment-wise, eSports, which includes Nodwin Gaming and Sportskeeda, and gamified early learning, offered through the Kiddopia platform, stood out as the biggest business drivers for Nazara with Rs 53.2 crore and Rs 52.1 crore revenue, respectively. Both saw significant sequential and year-on-year growth. 

Telco subscription was the third strongest performer with Rs 17.9 crore revenue. However, it was about 19% down from Rs 22.1 crore a year ago.  

The revenue from real money games -- Halaplay and Qunami -- and individual freemium offerings such as World Cricket Championship (WCC) grew over the last year and quarter but was still the lowest at Rs 2.2 crore and Rs 5.8 crore, respectively. 

“Nazara continues to see strong consumer and partner interest across each of our segments and business KPIs across segments continue to remain healthy in this quarter which will further help in reinforcing leadership position of the company across esports, gamified learning and cricket simulation mobile game,” Agarwal said. 

The gaming firm listed on the bourses in March 2021 and made its first acquisition as a public entity by buying nearly 70% stake in Turkish game publishing firm Publishme. 

“The recent acquisition of a majority stake in Publishme will further amplify our presence in MENA region. The acquisition will focus to build local execution capabilities cutting across key growth segments of freemium, gamified learning and esports,” Agarwal emphasized.