I’m proud of the whole THQ Nordic organisation, including our contracting developers and business partners, which has performed its most active quarter ever. We had a significant release activity in the quarter with eleven releases of which nine on own IPs. 74% of net sales came from new releases in the quarter and 26% from our back catalogue. I’m happy to note that 82% of net sales in the fourth quarter came from owned titles and 18% from publishing titles.
During the quarter, we also delivered our first in-house developed sequels to the market. Their overall performance has matched management expectations. Our new IP ELEX was well received by the fans but received mixed reviews from various media outlets due to its unique character and harsh style.
Our business grew rapidly; net sales increased by 99% to SEK 255 million in the quarter, EBITDA was up 157% to SEK 156 million and EBIT increased by 102% to SEK 102 million compared to the same period last year.
In November we acquired and welcomed the Stockholm based development studio Experiment 101 to the THQ Nordic family. They are developing one of our upcoming key titles: Biomutant. THQ Nordic has a solid growth strategy and a great position in the market which we will leverage over the coming years. I’m really looking forward to 2018, we will keep the excitement going.
– LARS WINGEFORS, FOUNDER & CEO
FOURTH QUARTER 2017
FULL YEAR, JANUARY-DECEMBER 2017
All figures in brackets are for the corresponding period of the previous year, unless otherwise stated.
For additional information, please contact:
Lars Wingefors, Group CEO, Phone: +46 708 471 978, E-mail: lwingefors@thqnordic.com
About THQ Nordic
THQ Nordic acquires, develops and publishes PC and console games. The company has a wide catalogue of 299 games, including 91 owned franchises, such as Darksiders, Titan Quest, MX vs ATV, Red Faction, Destroy All Humans, Aquanox, ELEX, Biomutant, Jagged Alliance, SpellForce and The Guild. THQ Nordic has a global publishing reach within marketing, sales and distribution, both online and offline. The group’s head office is based in Karlstad, Sweden and its publishing office in Vienna, Austria. THQ Nordic employs and contractually collaborates with 462 people, including external developers, and has seven internal development studios based in Germany, USA and Sweden. THQ Nordic shares are publicly listed on Nasdaq First North Stockholm under the ticker THQNB:SS with FNCA Sweden AB as its Certified Adviser. For more information, please visit: http://www.thqnordic-investors.com
This year-end report is information that is mandatory for THQ Nordic to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 06:30 CET on February 14, 2018.
Embracer Group is a global group of creative and entrepreneurial businesses in PC/console, mobile and board games and other related media. The Group has an extensive catalog of over 900 owned or controlled franchises.
With its head office based in Karlstad, Sweden, Embracer Group has a global presence through its ten operative groups: THQ Nordic, PLAION, Coffee Stain, Amplifier Game Invest, DECA Games, Easybrain, Asmodee Group, Dark Horse Media, Freemode and Crystal Dynamics – Eidos. The Group has 103 internal game development studios and is engaging more than 10,000 employees in more than 40 countries.