Catena boss Stan bullish on strategic pivot as Q3 disappoints
11 NOV 2026
By
Stephen
Carter
Head of content
Listed affiliate has posted a 30% year-on-year (YoY) fall in revenue to €8.2 million, attributed to the growth of generative “zero-click” search, erosion of organic rankings and seasonally lower operator budgets.
The decline was driven by a 29% YoY dip in revenue to €7.9 million from its dominant North American geos, accounting for 97% of revenue. NDCs across the group contracted 14% to 20,603 while adjusted EBITDA shrank 75% to €0.7 million.
CEO Manuel Stan described 3Q26 as a “disappointing quarter that interrupted the progress of recent periods” and the performance as “below our ambitions”.
He however added that the strategic pivot of the business away from reliance on organic search was “well advanced”. Its MRKTPLAYS affiliate network now accounts for more than a third of group revenue. Catena also launched another loyalty programme, Bonus+ on Bonus.com, designed to offset the decline in search volumes by maximising revenue per user and driving return visits.
Also in the quarter it doubled down on its commitment to capitalise on the prediction market opportunity with the launch of the PlayPicks discovery product, covering sports but also politics and other segments.
Post-quarter, its MRKTPLAYS+ sub-affiliation platform evolved into Catena Growth Ventures and made its first strategic investment into Repackz.fun owner Collectbase, a fast-growing US provider of digital pack-ripping of physical collectibles, “an evolving segment adjacent to iGaming”.
On 4 November, the group announced appointment of Stefan Grech as Senior Vice President of Technology, taking over from interim CTO Martin Zetterlund.
Stan said that over the longer term, he was confident that the business’ diversification away from dependence on organic traffic and towards new revenue streams “will enhance our financial and operating stability”.