On the bounce: Catena’s strong Q4 results suggest upturn in fortunes

Revenue for the affiliate group in Q4 marked €15.6 million (£13.6 million/$18.6 million), a rise of 53% year-on-year and up also from Q3’s €11.6 million three months prior. Adjusted EBITDA was up by 211% from the same period in 2024 to €4.7 million.

The group also delivered 56% more new depositing customers in Q4 year-on-year, which totalled 40,364 compared to 25,806.

Revenue in North America specifically increased by 71% to €15.2 and equated to around 98% of group revenue from continuing operations. 

With the performance, it's of little surprise that Catena Media CEO Manuel Stan heralded Q4 as the “best operating performance since the organisational reset that we initiated in mid-2024”.

The CEO went on to reveal that the Q4 results were accomplished from “disciplined execution across the business and positive impacts from the structural changes implemented during the first half of 2025”. 

“While it is still early, and further work remains, the figures offer encouragement that the business is moving in the right direction.”

Across the full-year, Catena’s revenue dropped 6% compared to 2024, down to €46.6 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased by 84% to €9.9 million. Revenue share contracts accounted for only 9% of group revenue, down from 2024’s 15%, while CPA deals equated to 89% of revenue earned.

Casino leads the way

Revenue in the casino segment for Catena rose by 81% in Q4 year-on-year to €13.9 million, which made up 89% of group revenue. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 52% from 2024, while NDCs grew by 117%.

Casino revenue also rose by 41% quarter-on-quarter compared to Q3’s €9.9 million. Across its sweepstakes casino activity, the affiliate’s revenue more than doubled year-on-year, despite average revenue per NDC being typically lower in social sweepstakes casino activity compared to regulated casino activity.

“We remain mindful of the regulatory uncertainty surrounding social sweepstakes casino, including the ban in California that took effect on 1 January,” said Stan on the regulatory limbo surrounding sweepstakes in the US. 

“That being said, we are seeing healthy interest in other states. More broadly, social sweepstakes casino positions us strategically for future online state casino launches by allowing us to build brands, databases and operational capability ahead of potential market regulation.”

MRKTPLAYS, the group’s proprietary subaffiliation platform, also continued to scale in the quarter, while Catena also confirmed that subaffiliation also grew strongly from Q3.

Sports-related activity, however, dropped by 33% year-on-year, down to €1.7 million and just an 11% share of group revenue. Adjusted EBITDA sat at €600,000, but still an improvement on the -€1.2 million recorded in Q4 2024.

Revenue in sports was also down 6% from Q3, which the brand said reflected continued underperformance across key products combined with a soft market environment. The launch of legal sports betting in Missouri in December was deemed a low-key event and contributed only marginally to revenue during the period.

“We are investing to improve our core sports products, but do not expect to see a material upturn in this segment in the short term,” said the CEO on the underperformance of its sports segment.

Into 2026

As it continued its product development, Catena launched an expanded version of its MRKTPLAYS platform in MRKTPLAYS+ in January 2026 to create scope for deeper commercial partnerships. It aims to give partners access to its expertise and marketing support, as well as to create potential investment capital opportunities.