Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS) saw its profits jump in 2020 and said it plans to resume dividends this year as a boom in the video game market during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic drove demand for its development services.
For the year to December 31, 2020, the AIM-listed firm reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of €55mln, a 34.5% increase on the prior year, while revenues jumped 14.4% to €373.5mln.
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Heading into the current year, Keywords said trading in its first quarter has “started well” with momentum from the second half of 2020 continuing into 2021 despite COVID-19-related constraints.
The firm also noted stronger demand across its service lines following the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox X|S Series consoles alongside the ongoing development of new subscription-based and streaming platforms.
Looking ahead, Keywords said it is “well-funded” to deliver on its acquisition strategy, adding it also intends to resume its dividend policy in 2021 after cutting last year's payment to zero from a total payment of 0.58p per share in 2019.
"The group's strong position in the buoyant video games market, our increasingly sought after 9,000 people strong resource base, a robust business model that has proven capable of continued growth in the face of the pandemic, together with our financial strength, places us well for further growth and long-term success”, joint interim chief executive Jon Hauck said in a statement.
"As we enter 2021, we are very confident in the group's opportunity for growth due to the continued trend towards outsourcing and an increased focus on content creation in a growing video games market. This combined with our ability to increase our market share and to selectively acquire high quality businesses will allow us to further cement our position as the 'go to' provider of technical and creative services to a global client base", he added.