2 November 2015
Gfinity plc
("Gfinity" or the "Company")
Final Results for the Year ended 30 June 2015
Gfinity (AIM: GFIN), a leading eSports business, is pleased to announce its full year results for the year ended 30 June 2015.
Financial highlights
· Revenues increased by 163% to £560,828 (2014: £213,450)*, resulting from a mix of sponsorship, fees from game publishers, premium subscriptions and ticket sales
· Loss increased to £3.6 million (2014: Loss of £0.9 million)*, reflecting the planned investment made following listing in December 2014
· Net cash as at 30 June 2015 amounted to £2.73 million (31 December 2014: £4.68 million; 30 June 2014: £591,275)
Operational highlights
Corporate
· Raised £3.5 million, before expenses, from AIM flotation at 17p per share in December 2014
· Entered into strategic collaboration with Vue Cinema ("Vue") and opened the Gfinity Arena in London, the UK's first dedicated eSports arena
· Registered user base on Gfinity.net increased from 43,000 as at 30 June 2014 to over 400,000 on 30 June 2015
· Exceeded target of 50 million on-line views for the 2015 Gfinity Championships
Events
· In August 2014, staged third Gfinity branded event (G3) at the Copperbox in London's Olympic Park. The largest eSports event ever staged in the UK - almost 4,000 spectators attended and 8.7 million online views from 25 countries over a single weekend
· In February 2015, staged European Call of Duty Championships on behalf of game publisher Activision at iconic Royal Opera House in London
· From March until September, launched the 2015 Gfinity Championships (a set of 23 weekly tournaments featuring the best players/teams in the world across 5 eSports titles)
· In April 2015, launched Xbox sponsored FIFA tournament, with qualifiers organised through Gfinity.net and live finals at the Gfinity Arena
Partnerships / sponsorship
· Signed a 2-year major sponsorship agreement with News Corporation for The Sun to become Gfinity's newspaper and on-line news partner in the UK and Ireland
· Entered into a two-year sales and marketing contract with Pitch International ("Pitch") for Pitch to package and sell sponsorship and broadcasting rights on the Company's behalf
Neville Upton, Co-founder and Chief Executive of Gfinity plc, said: "It has been a transformational year for Gfinity in which we established a leading position within the eSports industry by building up our brand and delivering regular world-class eSports events to a global audience. The success of the 2015 Gfinity championships, attracting over 50 million online views and sell-out crowds, demonstrates our ability to provide sponsors and broadcasters with a level of regular top level eSports content that has not been available in the UK before.
"The sector continues to develop rapidly and offers exciting opportunities. Our ability to take advantage of these will depend on our funding and speed of revenue development through sponsorship and other forms of monetisation. We remain confident in our prospects and have launched a further round of funding to ensure that we have the short term resources to take advantage of these opportunities."
A copy of the full audited annual report and accounts is available at http://www.gfinityplc.com/ and will be posted to shareholders shortly.
*Prior year P&L comparatives represent full year to 30 June 2014, rather than the 6 month period shown in the previous statutory accounts
Enquiries
Gfinity plc |
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Neville Upton, Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Hall, Finance Director |
+44 330 223 0860 |
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Arden Partners plc - Nominated Adviser and Broker |
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Chris Hardie, Ciaran Walsh |
+44 20 7614 5900 |
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Luther Pendragon - Public Relations |
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Harry Chathli, Alexis Gore, Oliver Hibberd |
+44 20 7618 9100 |
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A copy of the full audited annual report and accounts for the full year ended 30 June 2015 is available at www.gfinityplc.com and will be posted to shareholders shortly.
About Gfinity
Gfinity is a leading UK-based eSports company serving, in co-operation with games publishers, a rapidly-growing community of on-line gamers worldwide. Founded in September 2012, the Company has established a popular on-line brand, Gfinity.net, where gamers can compete, socialise and enjoy a wide range of content relating to electronic games on a proprietary technology platform. This platform enables Gfinity to run a regular roster of on-line competitions, leagues and ladders with the opportunity for gamers to enter and potentially win substantial prize money and/or pit their skills against professional and widely-followed ''star'' players.
Gfinity has quickly become a widely-recognised "destination" for gamers in the UK and internationally, typically aged 18 - 34 years old. The growing user base and the demographic of Gfinity's audience, together with the sheer numbers who view Gfinity's events online, provide brand owners and advertisers with an attractive environment in which to promote their products and services, as well as offering Gfinity the opportunity to generate significant revenues over the long term. Gfinity website: www.gfinityplc.com
eSports
eSports is a rapidly growing global market valued at $621 million with an audience of 134 million, according to SuperData's eSports market report (May 2015). With the majority of worldwide revenues coming from advertisers and corporate sponsors, corporate sponsorship is estimated to total $111 million in 2015 in North America alone. 13% of all live-stream viewers watch eSports, a large proportion use Twitch, the eSport streaming website, who in 2014 announced that they have reached 100 million unique users per month, more than double the 45 million achieved in 2013.
Overview
Gfinity is delighted to announce its maiden full year results following its listing on AIM in December 2014. The year to 30 June 2015 has been a very successful one for Gfinity, during which the Company has achieved all of the strategic goals set out by the management team at the beginning of the year.
Gfinity established itself as one of the leading online and offline electronic sports - eSports - providers in the world. The Company has, in a short space of time, become a widely-recognised ''destination'' for gamers in the UK and internationally and has built a reputation for delivering high quality competitions.
The Company generated revenues totalling £560,828, up from £213,450 for the equivalent 12 month period to 30 June 2014, reflecting the strong operational progress made during the period and marking a step-change in the Company's development. This increase indicates the potential for monetisation within the eSports sector. Nonetheless, the focus of the Company over the period in question has remained on building its brand and delivering world-class online and offline eSports events to a global audience.
Operating review
The company's listing on AIM in December 2014 was a major milestone for the business, but it was only one part of what was a remarkable year that saw Gfinity:
· Exponentially increase its global following for both viewing and participating in events
· Build a physical arena, in conjunction with Vue Cinema - the only venue of its kind in the UK
· Achieve a strong on-line presence through its re-launched website - Gfinity.net
· Create firm relationships with publishers, players and YouTube ambassadors
· Become renowned within the industry for quality of delivery
UK's first dedicated eSports Arena
In February 2015, Gfinity entered into a strategic collaboration with Vue Cinema to create the UK's only dedicated eSports event arena at Fulham Broadway, London. The new arena is a key part of the Company's long term growth strategy to organise and host major live eSports tournaments and also to stream events to a global audience of fans through its online platform.
Prior to the deal with Vue Cinema the Company had staged its third Gfinity branded event (G3) at the Copperbox in London's Olympic Park. It was the largest eSports event ever staged in the UK. This event attracted nearly 4,000 paying spectators across two days and received 8.7 million on-line views from over 25 countries. By collaborating with Vue, however, the Company has been able to accelerate its plans to create a large and dedicated site in central London without incurring major upfront capital costs.
The contract with Vue enabled the Company to host the 2015 eSports championship series at the new Gfinity Arena. Commencing in March 2015, by the time the series ended in September 2015, 23 live events had been held across a number of weekends and on selected weekday evenings. These events were streamed live on internet TV channels including Twitch, Gfinity.net and MLG.tv, broadcast in 10 languages and viewed in more than 25 countries. The company exceeded its target of 50 million online views for the season and directors expect further growth in viewership during 2016.
Creating an Online Community of Gamers
In June 2014, the Company's website, Gfinity.net was re-launched with a brand new platform designed to create a seamless user experience with enhanced features. Gfinity typically stages over 4,000 matches per week online and since the launch of the new platform there has been a rapid increase in registered users from 43,000 as at 30 June 2014 to over 400,000 as of 30 June 2015.
In addition, over the same period the Company's Twitter and Facebook following has increased from 84,000 to 134,000 and 5,000 to 91,000 respectively, increasing the number of positive advocates within the on-line community.
Throughout the year, Gfinity has staged a number of highly popular on-line tournaments, in addition to the leagues, ladders and cups that run throughout the year. These have included the PewDiePie Cup in September 2014, an event run in conjunction with the world's most viewed YouTuber - a Swedish gaming enthusiast - which saw 10,833 games of Speed Runners played as well as the KSI Cup in November 2014; an event which saw over 4,000 games of FIFA 15 played across a single weekend.
In the longer term there is a large opportunity through its eSports events and widening audiences to draw in sponsors, advertisers and broadcasters who want access to a highly defined and targeted demographic of 18-34 year olds, predominantly male, that play and watch eSports.
Sponsorship and Marketing
On 11 December 2014, Gfinity entered into a two-year sales and marketing contract with Pitch International for Pitch to package and sell sponsorship and broadcasting rights on the Company's behalf. Pitch is a leading sports marketing agency and distributor of sports media rights worldwide.
In April 2015, through Pitch International, the Company had a significant breakthrough when it signed a major sponsorship agreement for The Sun to become Gfinity's official newspaper and on-line news partner in the UK and Ireland. The backing of such a large organisation is a validation of Gfinity's brand and represents a significant step forward for the Company as well as a huge boost to the UK's growing eSports sector.
The two-year commercial partnership is the first such major agreement signed by Gfinity and will contribute significantly towards the Company achieving its revenue targets this year and in 2016.
Continuing growth of eSports phenomenon
The computer gaming industry and in particular the eSports segment within that are growing rapidly, as part of a long term shift in the way in which people consume their media. The gaming industry is now bigger than both the music and film industries and industry specialists NewZoo report that it is expected to reach a value of over $100 billion by 2017.
Within that, eSports goes from strength to strength. In 2014, leading platform Twitch.TV announced that during 2014 it had over 100 million unique visitors a month, more than double the total for the previous year. NewZoo estimated that at the end of 2014 there were 205 million eSports enthusiasts globally. By 2017 they estimate that this will grow to 335 million.
The biggest events are already filling arenas and drawing viewership levels that dwarf most traditional sports. The 2014 League of Legends Championships held at Sangam Arena, South Korea had 40,000 spectators and 27 million viewers on-line. At DotA 2's flagship annual championship "The International 2015" competitors from around the world competed in Seattle for a prize pot of over $18 million.
Financial Review
In the year to 30 June 2015 Gfinty invested heavily in establishing its reputation as one of the leading eSports companies in the world, demonstrating the Company's capability to deliver top quality eSports broadcasts week in week out and building the community of people both watching and playing in Gfinity events. The results presented in these financial statements, which are wholly in line with directors expectations for the period, reflect that investment.
Revenue increased to £560,828, up from £213,450 for the equivalent 12 month period to 30 June 2014. Of these figures, £415,427 of the revenue came during the second half of the year, following the Company's admission to AIM. While the focus of the Company to date has not been on short term revenue generation, this does indicate the long term monetisation potential of eSports.
This increase in revenue resulted from a mix of sponsorship, including the signing of a sponsorship agreement with News Corp UK & Ireland Limited in April 2015, fees from game publishers for delivery of events using their titles, premium subscriptions and ticket sales. The income from the first half of the year primarily related to ticket sales and sponsorship in respect of the G3 event in August 2014.
Moving on into the year to 2015/16, Gfinity expects to launch its online retail offering in the final quarter of 2015, while increasing the focus on monetising the viewership of the 2016 Gfinity Championship series.
As expected, administrative expenses, including staff costs, marketing and web development, increased to a run rate of approximately £230,000 per month for the six months of the year following admission to AIM and totalled £2.14 million for the full year. The primary reasons for this were the launch of the Gfinity arena, increases in staffing required to grow the business, the appointment of Pitch International to lead commercial sales, further investments in sales and marketing and developments to the Gfinity.net web offering.
Furthermore, cost of sales, which totalled £2 million for the full year, increased to £1.21 million in the latter half of the year, primarily driven by the costs of staging the first part of the Gfinity Championship series, with costs including prize money, talent, travel accommodation and event production.
Across the full year, the loss for the period of £3.58 million (2014: £0.9 million) reflects the significant investment that the Company made following its listing. The Company has cash, cash equivalents and deposits totalling £2.73 million as of 30 June 2015 (2014: £0.59 million).
Outlook
Gfinity has generated relatively low sales to date and this is not expected to change materially in the short-term although the Company does expect to see increasing revenues through 2016.
The Company's focus is to continue to maximise growth of its user base and consolidate its reputation for delivering the highest quality eSports events and expanding the size of the online community. The success of the 2015 Gfinity eSports championship has demonstrated Gfinity's ability to provide sponsors and broadcasters with a level of regular top level eSports content that has not been available in the UK before. The Company's partnership with Pitch International, means that Gfinity now has both a product which it believes will be of value to sponsors and broadcasters as well as a greatly enhanced capability to sell to such groups.
The Company is in dialogue with several potential partners and expects to sign other sponsorship deals next year. The sector continues to develop rapidly and offers exciting opportunities. Our ability to take advantage of these will depend on our funding and speed of revenue development through sponsorship and other forms of monetisation and we remain confident in our prospects.
