DGAP-News: Cliq Digital AG reports full year 2021 results

• Revenue grew by 40% and EBITDA increased by 70%
• Profit for the year up 75% and EPS was 2.74, up 136%
• 1.10 dividend per share (PY: 0.46) proposed to AGM
• Number of members grew by 44% to 1.3 million as at year-end close
• Strong outlook in the short- and medium-term

DÜSSELDORF, 1 March 2022 - CLIQ Digital AG today publishes its 2021 audited financial statements and presents its 2022 dividend proposal as well as its short- and medium-term outlook. "In 2021, we again exceeded all company targets and expectations thanks to the performance of our successful and stronger-than-ever marketing campaigns," said Luc Voncken, CEO of CLIQ Digital. "We focused on our key strategies and outperformed our guidance. We are confident that we will build on the momentum from 2021 to drive top line growth further and continue to generate healthy margins."

4Q / FY 2021 Performance

The audited 2021 financials are in line with the preliminary results announced on 1 February 2022 and show record results, featuring continued profitability as well as an attractive dividend.

• Revenue: In 4Q 2021, revenue grew by 55% to 46.8 million (PY: 30.1 million). For FY 2021, revenue increased by 40% to 150.0m compared to 2020 (PY: 107.0m) and was mainly driven by increased performance marketing campaigns promoting multi-content portals.
• Margin: For 4Q 2021, the EBITDA margin was 17.5% (PY: 16.8%) with EBITDA growing 62% to 8.2 million (PY: 5.1 million). In FY 2021, EBITDA grew against prior year by 70% to 27.2m (PY: 15.9m) and the EBITDA margin expanded to 18% p.a. (PY: 15%).
• Earnings per share: For 4Q, basic EPS grew by 163% to 0.90 (PY: 0.34). For FY 2021, basic EPS was up 136% to 2.74 (PY: 1.16) on the back of a profit for the year after non-controlling interest of 17.8 million (PY: 7.2 million), which increased by 149% against prior year.
• Dividends: In line with the company's consistent dividend policy (40% payout ratio), the Management and Supervisory Boards propose a dividend per share of 1.10 (PY: 0.46 distributed) to the virtual Annual General Meeting on 14 April 2022.
• Cash flow: Operating free cash flow for the year was up 3.4 million to 17.5 million (PY: 14.1 million), driven by the strong business performance.
• Marketing spend: In 4Q 2021, the marketing spend increased considerably by 145% to 19.5 million (PY: 8.0 million) due to increased advertising volume and slightly higher advertising prices. For FY 2021, the annual marketing spend was up 59% to 54.4m (PY: 34.2m), whereby the proportion of own media buying grew to 79% compared to 55% in 2020.

Operating review

• The revenue growth was driven by all regions, of which European sales in 4Q 2021 grew the strongest by 68% mainly driven by the fundamental shift from media buying via affiliate partners to CLIQ Digital's own, in-house media buying team. In Europe, our five top-selling countries were Italy, Spain, France, Ireland and Belgium.

• Revenue growth by service in FY 2021 was highest in multi-content portal sales due to the significant increase in and improvement of the licenced content across nearly all categories.

• For more information, please refer to https://cliqdigital.com/campaigns.

Strategic updates

• Strategy: In 2019, the company took the strategic decisions to offer members access to multi-content portals (in addition to the single-content offering) and to build an own media buying team to make CLIQ Digital less dependent on affiliate performance marketing partners. Since then, the company's multi-content strategy, which combines movies & series, music, games, audiobooks and sports to a bundled entertainment product, together with the in-house performance media buying team has driven the growth story significantly and efficiently. Since 2019, our multi-content services grew from 24m to 108m in 2021.
• Members: Within the CLIQ Group, the number of paid members for multi- and single content offerings increased in FY 2021 by 43.5% to 1.3 million (PY: 0.9 million) driven by the increase in successful marketing campaigns and the increase in attractive content, which is also more appealing to families. The average lifetime value of a member for multi- and single content offerings amounted to 69.81 by the end of the year (PY: 50.78).
• Lifetime Value of Customer Base: The Lifetime Value of Customer Base (LTVCB) came in at 87 million (PY: 50 million) at the end of 2021. The LTVCB was previously known as the Customer Base Value (CBV). The LTVCB is calculated by multiplying the number of members by their individual remaining lifetime value and represents the total revenue (i.e. without any deductions for cost of sales) that is expected to be generated by existing members. Previously, the CBV was calculated on expected net revenue.
• Profitability Index: CLIQ Digital's six months' Profitability Index (former CLIQ Factor) for the full year was 1.59x, compared to 1.68x in 2020. The year-on-year decrease was in line with the company's outlook for 2021 and was related to a general increase in the cost per acquisition across all regions.

• 2022: The company expects to increase its revenue organically to at least 210 million (PY: 150 million) due to significant investments into additional attractive content as well as stronger marketing in current markets such as Germany, USA, Italy, France and Spain. Marketing spend is forecasted to be over 70 million (PY: 54 million) and EBITDA is expected to exceed 33 million (PY: 27 million), continuing the company's track record of strong profitability and resulting in an EBITDA margin of more than 15% p.a. Furthermore, CLIQ Digital expects to start offering its services in more countries in Europe and on other continents. By the end of 2022, CLIQ Digital expects to have grown its network for multi- and single content offerings to a paid membership base ranging between 1.7 and 1.8 million (PY: 1.3 million) with a Lifetime Value of Customer Base of more than 110 million (PY: 87 million). The Profitability Index (previously CLIQ Factor) in 2022 is expected to be around 1.51x (PY: 1.59x).
• Medium-term (until 2025): CLIQ Digital targets significant growth across all geographies and across all areas of its business. The company expects to grow revenue every year on average by 35% during the next three years and reach 500 million by the end of 2025. The company expects the underlying number of paid members to range between 4 and 5 million at the end of 2025.

"With the combination of our growing content offering packaged into convenient and affordable products together with our highly successful performance marketing campaigns, we are well on track to grow faster than the market. The combination of being debt-free, generating significant operating free cash flow and paying dividends makes our growth story exceptional," said Ben Bos, member of the Management Board. "Our next strategic step forward is to upgrade and market our All-in-One product to a much greater extent also via traditional advertising channels, which will make us much more visible and relevant."

Earnings call

A live audio conference call and webcast will be held at 2.00 p.m. CET today and conducted in English by Ben Bos.

To attend the conference call and ask questions during the live question and answer session, prior registration of contact details is required at https://event-registration.arkadin.com/621372e73b8a933ac14fa6d1.

The webcast will be streamed via the following link: https://www.webcast-eqs.com/cliqdigital20220301 (NB the webcast is listen only).

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

Contacts

Investor relations:
Sebastian McCoskrie, s.mccoskrie@cliqdigital.com, +49 151 52043659

www.cliqdigital.ag/investors

Media relations:

Daniela Münster, daniela.muenster@deekeling-arndt.com, +49 174 3358111

Financial calendar:

About CLIQ Digital:

CLIQ Digital (www.cliqdigital.com) is a global streaming provider specialising in the performance marketing of affordable entertainment products, offering its members unlimited access to movies, series, music, audiobooks, sports and games. CLIQ Digital has a long and successful corporate history in digital marketing, offering niche products to the mass market at competitive prices. The company operates in over 30 countries and employed 129 staff from 32 different nationalities as at 31 December 2021. CLIQ Digital is a valuable strategic business partner for networks, content producers as well as for publishers and payment service providers. The company is headquartered in Düsseldorf and has offices in Amsterdam, London, Paris, Barcelona, Toronto and Florida. CLIQ Digital is listed in the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN DE000A0HHJR3) and is a constituent of the MSCI World Micro Cap Index.

Visit our website at https://cliqdigital.ag/investors, here you will find all publications as well as further information about CLIQ Digital.