• 2020 audited consolidated financial statements confirm preliminary figures released on 9 February

• All company targets exceeded thanks to structural growth drivers
• Net result for 2020: €10.4m (PY: €3.9m) up by 168%; EPS: €1.16 (PY: €0.36)
• Dividend of €0.46 (PY: €0.28) per share to be proposed to AGM
• Strong outlook supports profitable growth strategy

CLIQ Digital AG (CLIQ.DE, ISIN: DE000A0HHJR3, WKN: A0HHJR), a leading digital lifestyle company, which provides streaming entertainment services to consumers worldwide with unlimited access to music, audiobooks, games, sports and movie content, publishes today its annual report 2020 including the outlook for 2021 and announces its dividend proposal.

Statement from Luc Voncken, CEO:

“2020 was a breakout year for CLIQ – a real game changer. Our growth resulted first and foremost from our business strategy and its execution and is structural. With our strategic shift in media buying from affiliate marketing to our own, direct buying team and the investments made in our streaming content services, we laid the foundation for a sustainable growth path.”

The audited 2020 financials are in line with the preliminary results announced on 9 February 2021: Sales and EBITDA grew against prior year by 69% to €107.0m and 177% to €15.9m respectively. The EBITDA margin was 15% p.a. (in per cent of gross revenue) and the annual marketing spend was €34.2m (PY: €22.2m). The net result for the period increased by 168% to €10.4m and earnings per share amounted to €1.16. According to the company’s dividend policy (40% payout ratio), the Management and Supervisory Boards propose distributing a dividend per share of €0.46 (PY: €0.14 basic dividend and €0.14 bonus dividend distributed) to the next Annual General Meeting on 29 April 2021.

CLIQ Digital’s strong balance sheet reported an equity ratio increase to 72% (PY: 68%) and a net cash position of €0.9m against a net debt position of -€9.6m as at the year-end closing 2019. The strong cash inflow from operations in particular led to a positive free cash flow of €10.5m notwithstanding the dividend payment of €2.1m.

Outlook 2021:

Based on CLIQ Digital’s successful business strategy, the company is expecting to increase its gross revenue to at least €140m in FY 2021 on the back of approximately €46m marketing spend and thereby generate an EBITDA of around €22m, which results in a margin of c.16% p.a.

Statement from Ben Bos, member of the Management Board:

“We firmly believe that consumer habits and behaviour with regards to the demand and consumption of digital entertainment are truly sustainable and will fully support CLIQ’s growth plans going forward. One of the biggest growth drivers in 2021 will continue to be our All-in-One offering to all our members, which will be further rolled out around the world. CLIQ Digital will continue to strive for operational excellence and focus on improving and expanding its streaming entertainment services. We are well on track to gain more market share and grow our business to the next level.”

For more information, please refer to our Annual Report 2020 and join today’s earnings call with corresponding slides deck.

Earnings call details:

Management Board member, Ben Bos, will present CLIQ Digital's FY 2020 financial results and FY 2021 outlook during an audio conference call. This earnings call will commence today at 2.00 p.m. CET and be conducted in English.

To attend the call, participants are required to register by clicking on the link below and will then receive personalised dial-in details:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VbARpPKrQwq-_gwJZntoLg

Management will answer questions submitted via email to investors@cliqdigital.com no later than 60 minutes prior to the call. A recording of the webcast will be available following the call at https://cliqdigital.ag/investors/financials.

§  All-in-One portal now includes core & casual games for the whole family

§  New games category will address additional market and target audiences worldwide

§  Global video games market expected to reach $221 billion in 2025

§  Unlimited access to high-quality titles from leading publishers and indie games across all genres

CLIQ Digital AG (CLIQ.DE, ISIN: DE000A0HHJR3, WKN: A0HHJR), a leading digital lifestyle company, which provides streaming entertainment services to consumers worldwide with unlimited access to music, audiobooks, sports and movie content, is proud to announce the official start of its fifth and newest content category: games.

Games are expected to be one of the fastest growing digital media markets worldwide. The global gaming market was valued at $136 billion in 2020 and is estimated to reach a value ranging between $221 billion and $257 billion by the end of 2025.

By entering a partnership with Utomik (Utomik.com), a game subscription service currently offering 1200+ high-quality, handpicked games from myriad publishers like 2K Games, THQ, Deep Silver, Epic Games and independent game developers worldwide, CLIQ now grants its members access to endless gaming entertainment.

In addition, great desktop games and true classics for the whole family across all genres and age groups are included. The overall games content will appeal to both core and casual gamers, both as single and multiplayer.

Some noteworthy titles include Borderlands, Risen 3, Saints Row IV, Metro 2033, Hitman: Absolution, Operation Flashpoint, Darksiders 2, Adventure Time, Outcast – Second Contact, Deponia and Warhammer: Chaosbane.

CLIQ’s monthly subscription price now includes unlimited, ad-free access to all the  games content on Utomik. Utomik is responsible for the technical implementation and curating the games catalogue. Members are required to install the Utomik client, through which the games are managed and played.

Statement from Ben Bos, member of the CLIQ Management Board:

“Games marks a further milestone in our strategy to increase and improve our portal content offering. The high quality, broad range and something-for-everyone fully underscores CLIQ’s growth path going forward. We want to become more appealing, more entertaining and more important for both our existing and new members across all age groups and genders.”

Statement from Richard van Barneveld, director of business development at Utomik:

“As part of Utomik’s growth strategy, we’re happy to partner with CLIQ. Together we can combine our strengths to bring our entertainment to many more customers and markets.”

§  New content increases CLIQ’s film library and drives eyeballs to a more attractive destination store

§  Major relaunch of a wider and more compelling range of sports content

CLIQ Digital AG (CLIQ.DE, ISIN: DE000A0HHJR3, WKN: A0HHJR), a leading digital lifestyle company, which provides streaming entertainment services to consumers worldwide with unlimited access to music, audiobooks, sports and movie content, is pleased to announce the official start of the comprehensive movie and sports content enhancements in its All-in-One product offering.

From today on, members in Germany and Austria can now enjoy a wide range of Hollywood blockbusters. Sports fans across all CLIQ countries can now watch daily news, reports and highlights of the most popular sports and leagues worldwide. These new additions will contribute significantly to the attractiveness of the All-in-One store offering.

The film category now includes a completely revised library of over 1,000 selected films, including international box office hits as well as the very best in cinema made in Germany. The extended library now covers all relevant genres and offers movie entertainment for the whole family, completely in German as well as recent releases and films that have not yet been shown on TV.

The monthly subscription price includes unlimited access to all titles in Germany and Austria from CLIQ´s license partners, including credit for one blockbuster per month; additional films are available as pay-per-view transactions.

In all markets where CLIQ is active, the focus of the completely revised sports category is on six continuously updated programmes, produced by sports experts Inverleigh. The half-hour and high-quality formats deal with current topics of the most popular sports and their leading leagues; such as the Premier League, Bundesliga, Champions League, NBA, MMA, NFL and Formula 1.

In addition, CLIQ is further expanding its content partnership with Stats Perform with brief video clips with the latest news, highlights, interviews and background information on all relevant sports several times a day.

Statement from Ben Bos, member of the Management Board:

“We are very excited about the new content in our All-in-One product and increasing our members’ satisfaction with this upgrade. Our multicontent portals have now become much more attractive and a real destination one-stop shop. We are currently working on more content improvements across all categories and we expect to see even more Hollywood blockbusters and around 35,000 sports clips added to our portal in the near future as well as new compelling categories.”

NB.
On 17 March 2021, the FY 2020 annual report will be published and the audited, final FY 2020 financials as well as the dividend proposal and FY 2021 outlook will be presented by Management during an earnings call.

Financial calendar 2021:

CLIQ Digital AG (CLIQ.DE, ISIN: DE000A0HHJR3, WKN: A0HHJR), a leading digital lifestyle company, which provides streaming entertainment services to consumers worldwide with unlimited access to music, audiobooks, sports and movie content, will present its audited and final Full Year 2020 financials as well as publish its Annual Report 2020 on Wednesday 17 March 2021.

The annual report, a statement and a slides deck to accompany the earnings call will be published at 7.30 a.m. CET on: https://cliqdigital.ag/investors.

Management Board member, Ben Bos, will present CLIQ Digital’s FY 2020 financial results as well as the dividend proposal and FY 2021 outlook during an audio conference call. This earnings call will commence at 2.00 p.m. CET and be conducted in English.

Participants are kindly requested to register for attending the call (and will then receive personalised dial-in details) by clicking on the link below:

 https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VbARpPKrQwq-_gwJZntoLg

Ben Bos will answer questions submitted via email to investors@cliqdigital.com no later than 60 minutes prior to the call.

A recording of the webcast will be available following the call at https://cliqdigital.ag/investors/financials.

Financial calendar 2021:

§  All targets for FY 2020 surpassed with €107m revenue, €16m EBITDA, i.e. 15% EBITDA margin (PY: 9%)

§  Strong 4Q 2020 performance with 66% revenue growth across all regions and 153% increase in EBITDA compared to 4Q 2019: 17% EBITDA margin (PY: 11%)

§  Debt-free as at 31/12/2020 and €10m free cash flow generated in FY 2020, and 1.68 CLIQ Factor (PY: 1.51)

CLIQ Digital AG (CLIQ.DE, ISIN: DE000A0HHJR3, WKN: A0HHJR), a leading digital lifestyle company, which provides streaming entertainment services to consumers worldwide with unlimited access to music, audiobooks, games, sports and movie content, is proud to announce that 2020 was the most successful year ever in CLIQ Digital’s history.

According to preliminary and unaudited figures, CLIQ Digital’s gross revenue and EBITDA in 2020 have exceeded expectations and totalled €107m and €16m respectively. For the full year, sales grew by nearly 70% and EBITDA grew by more than 177% against the prior year resulting in an EBITDA margin (in per cent of gross revenue) of 15%. The marketing spend was more than 50% higher than in 2019 and amounted to €34m in 2020.

At the year-end close, the company was debt-free on the back of €10m free cash flow generated in 2020 notwithstanding the dividend distribution of nearly €2m in the third quarter 2020. The CLIQ Factor for the full year was 1.68, compared to 1.51 in 2019, and the Customer Base Value (CBV) came in at €35 million (PY: €26 million) at the end of 2020.

In the fourth quarter 2020 (01/10 – 31/12/2020), CLIQ Digital’s gross revenue was more than €30m, which corresponds to a growth rate exceeding 65% compared to prior year’s quarter. The revenue growth was driven by all regions – with European sales gaining notable traction again – and by the fundamental shift from media buying via affiliate partners to CLIQ Digital’s own in-house teams in particular. In the fourth quarter 2020, the marketing spend totalled nearly €8m and EBITDA exceeded €5m (+153%, PY: €2m) resulting in a 4Q 2020 EBITDA margin (in per cent of gross revenue) of 17% compared to 11% in last year’s fourth quarter.

Statement from Ben Bos, member of the Management Board:

“2020 was a year of change; an unprecedented year. For CLIQ, it has been a very important and transformative year: we introduced the CLIQ-branded, All-in-One multicontent portal and executed our strategic shift in media buying from affiliate marketing to our own, direct media buying team amongst other growth drivers. Our U.S. business profited already from this shift and contributed significantly to this year’s Group results. Management is overwhelmingly proud of CLIQ’s stellar business development in 2020 and looks forward to continuing this exceptionally strong growth story. We intend to further grow our market share considerably, expand into new markets and become even more relevant to our members, business partners and shareholders.”

On 17 March 2021, the FY 2020 annual report will be published and the audited, final FY 2020 financials as well as the dividend proposal and FY 2021 outlook will be presented by Management during an earnings call.

Financial calendar 2021:

Disclaimer

This release contains preliminary, unaudited figures and forward-looking statements. These statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations held at the time this report is published. Preliminary figures and forward-looking statements are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties and may significantly deviate from the actual results. With regard to forward-looking statements in particular, risks and uncertainties are to a large extent determined by factors that are outside of CLIQ Digital’s sphere of influence and that can currently not be estimated with an adequate degree of certainty. These factors include, inter alia, future market conditions and economic developments, the actions of other market participants, the utilisation of anticipated synergy effects as well as legislative and political decisions.

CLIQ does not consider itself obliged to publish any corrections to these forward-looking statements for the purpose of adjusting them to events or circumstances that eventuate after the publishing date of these materials.