Year-end report 2016
Fourth quarter 2016
Revenues for the fourth quarter amounted to SEK 198.4 (126.8) million, an increase by 56 % compared to the same period last year.
Operating profit amounted to SEK 85.9 (43.7) million, an increase by 96 %.
Profit before tax amounted to SEK 86.0 (44.2) million, and profit after tax amounted to SEK 68.1 (34.9) million.
Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 90.6 (38.3) million, and cash flow from investing activities amounted to SEK -58.8 (-69.0) million.
By the end of the period cash and short term placements amounted to SEK 246.9 (159.8) million.
Earnings per share amounted to SEK 0.65 (0.33) per share.
Revenue from the fourth quarter of 2016 are mainly attributable to Cities: Skylines, Stellaris, Hearts of Iron IV, Europa Universalis IV and Tyranny.
Full year 2016
Revenues for the period amounted to SEK 653.7 (604.1) million, an increase by 8 % compared to the same period last year.
Operating profit amounted to SEK 308.0 (241.7) million, an increase by 27 %.
Profit before tax amounted to SEK 308.6 (242.0) million, and profit after tax amounted to SEK 240.4 (188.8) million.
Earnings per share amounted to SEK 2.28 (1.79).
The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of SEK 1.00 (0.67) per share for the financial year 2016.
Important events in the fourth quarter
The new game Tyranny, developed by Obsidian Entertainment was released November 10.
Four expansions were released during the period; Rights of Man for Europa Universalis IV, Leviathans Story Pack for Stellaris, Together for Victory for Hearts of Iron IV, and Natural Disasters for Cities: Skylines.
Downloadable content Cities: Skylines - Stadiums: European Club Pack, in collaboration with football clubs FC Barcelona, Chelsea Football Club, Juventus Football Club and Paris Saint Germain, was released.
Cities: Skylines - Content Creator Pack: High Tech Buildings was released, which is a continuation of the collaboration with the community's players to produce and sell downloadable content.
Steam Winter sale started on December 22 and lasted until January 2.
Words from CEO
A strong finish to the year
We’ve reached years end and can now see that our fourth quarter has closed much in the same way as the year at large - with a steady growth in turnover and profit compared to last year.
Steam, our largest distribution partners, released a top list in the end of December with the 100 best selling games of 2016. Paradox had no less than 5 titles on the list (Stellaris, Cities: Skylines, Hearts of Iron IV, Europa Universalis IV and Crusader Kings II), a clear indication of the strength and range in our portfolio. We are cash flow positive and already have a good cash position, enabling us to do larger investments and look at interesting acquisitions. However, it’s important to stress that we are in no hurry, making the right decisions for Paradox of today and Paradox of tomorrow is the priority above all.
After the IPO one of the most frequently asked questions I receive is “when are you planning to exit”? As an entrepreneur and CEO it’s hard for me to understand that question. A more suitable question in my opinion would be “how do you plan to scale”? In many ways we are just getting started on our journey.
During the fourth quarter we released several expansions to our existing titles. We also released a larger title on November 10th, Tyranny. Tyranny is developed by Obsidian Entertainment and has received a very warm reception by critics and gamers all over the world. We believe Tyranny is a game where the sales will stretch over a longer period of time and where the positive reception will be a contributing factor. Just like with our other titles, the developers are continuing to develop the game in dialogue with its community, something that also contributes to its long-tail potential.
We continuously release expansions and new content to our active game titles. During the 4th quarter we released the first two larger expansions for both Stellaris and Hearts of Iron IV. Stellaris: Leviathans and Hearts of Iron IV: Together for Victory have both contributed to an increased monthly activity in their respective games while the active dialogue between our development teams and the community has contributed to a general increase of engagement for Paradox in all of our channels.
In November we gathered the entire company for a four day conference. The focus of the conference was to discuss company direction, identify our internal goals and also put into words the company culture we are so keen to keep as we continue to grow. We are very happy with the outcome of the conference and for me personally, after 13 years at Paradox, it was very gratifying to recognize our Paradox DNA among so many new employees. A clear validation that we have the right team with us on the road ahead.
In December we gathered our fans for our annual FanGathering, an event where we also announced the start of the ticket sales for PDXCon this spring. PDXCon has previously been a yearly media event where we have gathered developers, partners and media to show them our upcoming line-up. In 2017 we will open up the doors to the public for the first time and judging from the speed at which the Golden Tickets sold out, there seems to be a large interest to attend.
2017 has the makings of being just as exciting for us as 2016. The organisation and all its parts is teeming with ideas, passion and activity. Things we can mention right now is White Wolf who recently announced that they have licensed the brand “Werewolf: The Apocalypse” to publisher Focus Home Interactive, for a larger PC and console project. In addition to this they are working with several smaller licensing projects, like three smaller mobile projects with different developers.
As communicated before, we will also continuously look at new platforms and business models. We recently recruited industry veteran Kim Nordström, with a background as studio manager at King, to drive our work in these areas.
I am by nature never satisfied since I can always identify ways to do more and better things. As we close the books on 2016 I can conclude that I am proud of our accomplishments but also that we are far from finished. Paradox will continue to aim high and work hard. A heartfelt thanks to those of you who have chosen to accompany us on our journey.
Fredrik Wester, CEO
Presentation of year-end report
Fredrik Wester and Andras Vajlok will host a live stream to answer report and financial related questions on our Twitch channel at 12:00 PM CET (noon), February 14 https://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive.
Submit your questions before via our forum https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/year-end-report-q-a-stream-12-pm-cet-noon.998363/ by e-mailing them to ir@paradoxplaza.com or directly in the Twitch chat. The Twitch chat is open for anyone to view but to post comments or question you will need to create an account.