Catena Media posts Q3 revenue rise as it aims to turn corner
By
Dan
Kleiner
Editor
Catena Media has posted an increase in revenue for the third quarter of 2025 as the affiliate acknowledged that its progress on diversification has begun to bear fruit.
The company recorded revenue of €11.6 million (£10.2 million/$13.3 million) for the period, with an adjusted EBITDA of €2.9 million, which marked an increase of 9% and 119% respectively. This corresponded to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 25%, up from 13% in 2024. It also marked a 20.8% increase quarter-on-quarter.
While its operations in North America increased by 18% to €11.2 million and represented a total of 96% of group revenue from operating profits, up from the 89% it contributed last year.
Direct costs, however, also rose during the period by 145% to €3.6 million. The company was hit in the quarter by an impairment charge of €16.5 million due to a writedown in the book value of specific North American sports assets and casino assets in Asia-Pacific. Of the charge, €10.5 million was related to the North American sports assets and €6 million to the Asia-Pacific casino assets.
“The drive and resilience of our teams was instrumental to achieving the uplift in top-line growth and profitability,” said CEO Manuel Stan. “The objectives and key result metrics we introduced early this year have channelled clear priorities, sharper execution and stronger accountability across our products.”
Strategic highlights
In Q3, Catena saw the first full quarterly impact of the cost optimisation measures implemented earlier in the year, which included a decrease in headcount of around 25% during Q2. This helped the company as it reduced its cost base from €12.1 million in Q2 2024 to €8.2 million in Q2 2025; however, this was pushed to €8.7 million during Q3 due to increased subaffiliation activities.
The company also launched MRKTPLAYS.com in September as a new proprietary subaffiliation platform, yet while it did not disclose its revenue from the activities, Catena revealed that it helped in the growth of the casino-related revenue.
Catena also highlighted the benefits of a unified tech stack that became more visible in Q3, which simplified product maintenance, aiding brand performance and provided a more scalable base for development.
The affiliate registered strong SEO rankings during the quarter following the Google Core update in June, which it said provided a favourable base for traffic inflow. While investment in in-house tech and product optimisation helped all the affiliate’s high-value brands meet Google’s Core Web Vitals standards for the first time.
Yet, on the impact of AI on traditional SEO, Stan emphasised that Catena’s strategy focuses on retention. “Our strategy focuses on strengthening customer retention and maximising the value of our customer base through enhanced CRM capabilities, data-driven insights and loyalty initiatives.”
Casino & sports performance
Revenue in Catena’s casino segment increased by 20% year-on-year to €9.9 million, while adjusted EBITDA fell by 3% to €2.5 million. While new depositing customers for casino rose by 1%.
The affiliate acknowledged that revenue growth continued to be solid for its social sweepstake casino activities, but that a regulatory ban is due to take effect in California from 1 January 2026, which will impact future revenue in Q1 2026.
Meanwhile, Catena’s sports-related revenue dropped by 28% to €1.8 million, down from 2024’s €2.5 million. The segment made up 15% of the total group revenue.
Adjusted EBITDA, however, improved year-on-year from -€1.2 million to €400,000, with the company having registered that the segment continued to face market challenges and its assets will require more time to turn around.
New market launch
The company has products already in place ahead of the launch of regulated sports betting in Missouri on 1 December, and given that six of the eight bordering states have already regulated online sports betting, Catena expects the revenue uplift to be “moderate”.
Stan concluded by remarking that he remains cautious in Catena’s short-term outlook but is confident in the progress it is making. “The combination of diversified revenue, disciplined operations and stronger search performance creates a platform for sustainable growth.”
Catena has targeted double-digit organic growth in group revenue for 2026 and in group adjusted EBITDA for 2025 and 2026, alongside a net interest-bearing debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio of 0 to 1.75.