Catena Media has reported a 9 percent year-on-year increase in revenue from continuing operations for the third quarter of 2025, reaching EUR 11.6 million compared to EUR 10.7 million in the same period last year. The company attributed growth largely to performance in North America, where revenue rose by 18 percent to EUR 11.2 million, accounting for 96 percent of group revenue.
Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations increased by 119 percent to EUR 2.9 million, corresponding to a margin of 25 percent. Reported EBITDA rose by 300 percent to EUR 2.7 million, with a 23 percent margin. The company posted an earnings per share figure of EUR -0.19, compared to EUR -0.55 last year.
Catena Media recorded an impairment charge of EUR 16.5 million during the quarter, reflecting a writedown in the book value of specific North American sports assets and casino assets in the Asia-Pacific region.
For the nine months ending September 2025, revenue from continuing operations was EUR 31.0 million, down 21 percent year-on-year, with North American revenue falling 18 percent to EUR 28.6 million, representing 92 percent of the total. Adjusted EBITDA for the period increased by 35 percent to EUR 5.2 million, with an adjusted margin of 17 percent.
Catena Media also launched MRKTPLAYS.com in September, a new sub-affiliation platform designed to connect affiliates and operators in North America. The platform forms part of the group’s broader strategy to leverage scalable, technology-led growth across the online casino and sports betting sectors.
CEO Manuel Stan commented: “Q3 was a quarter of steady operating progress, with revenue up 9 percent from the same period last year – 15 percent adjusted for currency effects – and 22 percent from Q2. Adjusted EBITDA more than doubled both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter. These figures reflected more diversified revenue streams and a solid contribution from organic search, supported by the first full quarterly impact of the cost optimisation measures implemented earlier this year.
“The drive and resilience of our teams was instrumental to achieving the uplift in top-line growth and profitability. The objectives and key result metrics we introduced early this year have channelled clear priorities, sharper execution and stronger accountability across our products.
“The benefits of a unified technology stack became more visible in Q3, simplifying product maintenance and aiding brand performance. We continued to streamline the tech setup during the quarter, initiating the migration of top-tier products onto our central platform. This work is improving consistency across products and providing a more scalable base for development.
“Diversification remains a top priority, and efforts in this area progressed further in Q3. Our customer relationship management (CRM) and subaffiliation verticals continued to increase their share of group revenue. The launch in September of our MRKTPLAYS subaffiliation platform replaced manual processes with a scalable setup that enhances our service. We saw strong interest from prospective subaffiliates in Q3 and are well positioned to grow this area further in the coming quarters.
“As we continue to diversify our revenue streams, direct costs continued to grow in the quarter. However, as this is directly driven by revenue growth, we are pleased to see this development. Excluding diversification-related direct costs, the cost base remained relatively flat, creating scope to translate top-line revenue uplift into higher profitability. We saw this in Q3, with an increase in the adjusted EBITDA margin to 25 percent from 14 percent in Q2.
“Organic search is Catena Media’s core expertise, and our search engine optimisation (SEO) rankings held up well through the quarter after the initial upturn from the Google Core update in June. This positive trend provided a favourable base for traffic inflow. Further investments in in-house tech and product optimisation helped ensure that all of our top-tier brands met Google’s Core Web Vitals standards for the first time, indicating consistency in terms of website visibility and user experience.
“The impact of AI on traditional SEO remains hard to forecast. The rise of “zero click” behaviour driven by generative search continues to erode organic traffic, affecting our industry in line with broader trends. Our strategy focuses on strengthening customer retention and maximising the value of our customer base through enhanced CRM capabilities, data-driven insights and loyalty initiatives.
“In online casino, we continued to make solid headway. Our ongoing work to integrate our premier casino sites into the central platform will simplify operations and position us for further efficiency gains.
“The regulatory landscape around social sweepstakes casino has seen significant changes recently, culminating with the California ban from 1 January. We expect further legislative pressures on this vertical in the coming quarters, but the speed and spread remain to be determined. In the short and medium term, social sweepstakes casino remains a positive revenue driver and a way to acquire user data ahead of future online casino regulation by new states.
“In sports, we continued to face market challenges as well as product underperformance. A long-term plan is in place to improve delivery, but improvements are likely to be slow and incremental.
“We look forward to the launch of regulated sports betting in Missouri on 1 December and have dedicated Missouri products in place alongside regional offers on our national brands. Given that six of the eight states bordering Missouri have already regulated online sports betting, we expect revenue uplift to be moderate.
“Given the industry headwinds from generative search and social sweepstakes casino, I remain cautious in our short-term outlook but am confident in the progress we are making. The combination of diversified revenue, disciplined operations and stronger search performance creates a platform for sustainable growth.
“Once again, I would like to thank our employees for their dedication, adaptability and positive response to organisational changes, including the return-to-office at our Malta headquarters, and our shareholders for their continued support as we move forward.”
