By Dominic Chopping
Rovio Entertainment Oyj on Friday posted a slightly lower-than-expected fourth-quarter net profit but said it expects strong revenue growth this year.
The company behind the Angry Birds mobile-gaming franchise reported a net profit of 6.2 million euros ($7.1 million) for the quarter from EUR3.0 million a year earlier, as revenue rose 15% to EUR78.9 million.
A FactSet analysts’ forecast had expected net profit of EUR7.4 million on revenue of EUR74.2 million.
“We start the year with positive momentum in our top live games,” Chief Executive Alex Pelletier-Normand said.
“Our games pipeline beyond 2022 is healthy with new games in development in all of our seven studios,” he added.
Building on the positive momentum in its top live games, the launch of Angry Birds Journey in January 2022 and having the full benefit of the Ruby Games acquisition from the start of the year, Rovio said it is expecting strong topline growth for the year.
However, depending on the speed of growth and investments, the adjusted operating profit is expected to be lower year-on-year.
The Finnish developer said user acquisition investments in the first quarter–the cost of advertising and marketing to attract players–are expected to be around 40% of games revenues.
Rovio proposed an unchanged dividend of EUR0.12.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com
