Digital gaming and sports platform Nazara Technologies NSE 12.76 % on Friday posted an about 17 per cent increase in consolidated profit to Rs 4.9 crore for the quarter ended March 2022. The company had logged a profit of Rs 4.2 crore in the same period a year ago.
The company’s revenue jump comes at a time when the gaming industry is already facing headwinds from changes in Apple’s app store policies and India’s overall challenging regulatory environment for real money gaming.
Revenue from its real-money gaming business more than doubled to INR 29.7 Cr in FY22, contributing 5% of the total operating revenue as against 3% in FY21.
Nazara is a diversified gaming and sports media platform with its presence in India and across both emerging and developed global markets such as Africa and North America.
“I am glad to report that we have surpassed our revenue and EBITDA guidance for FY22, despite the headwinds caused by a change in Apple policies and regulatory environment in real money gaming in India and negative impact of COVID-19 in esports segment,” Nazara Technologies CEO Manish Agarwal said in a statement.
For the year ended March 31, 2022, Nazara Technologies’ profit jumped over three-fold to Rs 50.7 crore from Rs 13.6 crore a year ago.
Annual revenue from operations increased by 36.87 per cent to Rs 621.7 crore from Rs 454.2 crore in 2020-21.
The company’s board approved a bonus of one share against each share held by the shareholders.”Nazara has a 22-year credible history of delivering value to its shareholders who have put faith in the company & believed in our dream of making India a global gaming giant.
“As a token of our appreciation towards our shareholders’ faith in us and to celebrate the first anniversary of being a listed company, we are happy to declare a 1:1 bonus issuance of shares,” Nazara Technologies founder and Joint Managing Director Nitish Mittersain said.
Shares of Nazara closed at Rs 1,244.35 a piece, up by 13.48 percent compared to the previous close, at the BSE on Friday.
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Last month, Nazara’s subsidiary, esports gaming platform NODWIN Gaming, acquired a 35% stake, valued at INR 10.01 Cr, in gaming accessories brand Wings, owned by Brandscale Technologies.
The deal was primarily aimed at scaling up and strengthening NODWIN’s retail presence and accelerating its direct-to-consumer approach for the gaming and esports audiences in India.
Earlier last month, Nazara Pte. Ltd, the Singapore-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Nazara, invested $2.5 Mn in US-based gaming fund BITKRAFT Ventures.
In January this year, Nazara also acquired a 55% stake in programmatic advertising and monetization startup Datawrkz, which helped it reach a valuation of up to INR 225 Cr.
