Team17 Group PLC (AIM:TM17), the video game developer and publisher, reported modest increases in revenue and pretax profit for 2021, but warned that revenue in the current year will take a hit of about £4mln from the conflict in Ukraine.
Revenue reported a 9% increase in revenue to £90.5mln for the full year, and a pre-tax profit of £29.1mln, up 11%, in what chief executive Debbie Bestwick called "unquestionably a key year for the group in terms of handling a second year under pandemic restrictions" and where it "invested heavily across our business in terms of people, processes and infrastructure and will continue to do so", including making all employees shareholders.
The new year has begun with a triple-acquisition of Astragon, The Label and Hell Let Loose in January, which Bestwick said are expected to be earnings accretive immediately and "create a significant growth engine from which to leverage and see tangible commercial benefit from in 2022 and beyond".
However, the continued fallout of the Covid pandemic alongside higher cost of living and wage inflation will increase group costs by about £1.7mln, Team17 said, with ongoing conflict in Ukraine/Russia is currently estimated to impact group revenues by circa £4mln and underlying earnings (EBIT) by around £2.5mln.
In spite of such unforeseen headwinds, Bestwick said the group remains "well positioned to deliver" on its growth plans this year, with the "most diverse range of owned IP, third-party and licensed IP, targeting the broadest audiences across multiple platforms".
The AIM-listed company’s shares were down about 7% at 548.65p in mid-morning trading.