Catena growth stalled in Q2 as search headwinds hit

Adjusted EBITDA margin narrowed to 13% from 14% a year earlier. EBITDA declined 46% to €1.2 million, reflecting the absence of gains recorded in the prior-year period. New depositing customers (NDCs), however, increased by 23% to 24,781.

This follows the affiliate’s previous report on its recovery trajectory in recent quarters, with adjusted EBITDA surging 191% to €2.7 million in Q1. The company blamed the underwhelming performance on industry-wide challenges. 

“These results reflect industry-wide headwinds in organic search and mark a pause after several quarters of strong operating performance,” said Manuel Stan, Catena Media CEO. “The quarterly revenue decline underlines a structural reality facing our industry: traditional affiliation remains closely tied to the shifting dynamics of organic search. 

Evolving beyond traditional SEO 

In response to financial volatility from the search challenge, Stan said Catena’s board and management have begun “exploring how to reshape the business towards a model that reduces exposure to any single external factor”. The company also noted that even strong keyword rankings now generate fewer clicks and less revenue than they did a year ago.

According to Stan, the company is developing “a next-generation and fully automated marketplace that connects publishers and advertisers across a wider set of verticals, with deep analytics and intelligence at its core”. The move will see the company “evolve beyond traditional affiliation and lead generation into a technical infrastructure platform provider that brings together industry players in a single ecosystem”.  

Although the CEO refrained from disclosing operational details due to “competitive reasons, he revealed the platform’s investment began during Q2 and was reflected in higher capital expenditure. Catena has reorganised product teams to advance the project, with final testing scheduled for late 2026 and a full commercial launch targeted for the first half of 2027. 

Nevertheless, Stan stressed that the development “is not a retreat from organic search and traditional search engine optimisation”. 

“We will continue to invest in and develop our core organic brands. They will remain important contributors to revenue alongside new products such as our PlayPerks loyalty programme on PlayUSA.com, whose strong performance since launch in January underscores the value of offsetting our exposure to Google traffic,” he said. 

Casino growth offsets weaker sports results

As in the last quarter, casino remained the group's dominant business line in Q2, accounting for 90% of total revenue. Revenue in the segment increased 8% year-on-year to €8.5 million, while NDCs rose 35% to 20,342. Adjusted EBITDA declined 18% to €1.1 million, resulting in a 13% margin. 

Catena said social sweepstakes casino revenue increased despite ongoing regulatory pressure in that market, supported by strong growth from its MRKTPLAYS platform. CRM activities also delivered double-digit growth, aided by the PlayPerks loyalty programme launched on PlayUSA.com earlier this year. 

Sports performance remained under pressure. Segment revenue fell 43% year-on-year to €1.0 million, while NDCs declined 13% to 4,439. Despite the revenue drop, adjusted EBITDA improved to €0.1 million from €0.02 million in the prior-year period.

The company highlighted the growing contribution of MRKTPLAYS, which now generates more than one-third of group revenue. The company described the platform as evidence that its future growth opportunities extend beyond traditional affiliate marketing into providing infrastructure and connectivity for publishers and operators. 

Direct costs increased 25% during the quarter to €3.0 million, primarily due to greater diversification into performance marketing channels including MRKTPLAYS. Meanwhile, adjusted personnel expenses fell by 9% and adjusted operating expenses decreased by 14%.

North America continued to dominate the group's business, contributing 97% of Q2 revenue. Revenue from the region increased 6% year-on-year to €9.2 million.

Significant events post-quarter

In the earnings call, the CEO confirmed Catena’s sale of PlayCanada.com to Vectiq in July. Stan said there hasn’t been any “meaningful impact in terms of the divestment”, but the company expects “future positive impact from generating revenues from that market”. 

According to industry sources, the affiliate has also launched another wave of layoffs in Q3, having previously slashed 50 employees – around 25% of its workforce – in Q2 2025. However, Stan refrained from disclosing details of the restructuring in the call and instead highlighted the company’s improvement in employee satisfaction. 

“From a people perspective, the most important developments included the employee-net-promoter score, which remained strong across Q2 as we recorded a 50-point year-on-year net increase,” he said. 

“After the quarter, we have consolidated our squads to sharpen the focus on core products and improve cross-functional alignment, enabling faster cross-functional decision-making and clear ownership.”

The company maintained its financial target of delivering double-digit organic growth in both revenue and adjusted EBITDA during 2026.