Catena Media saw revenues jump 53 per cent in Q4 2025 as profit margins rose, in what the company described as a “solid quarter of revenue growth and improved profitability.”
Company CEO Manuel Stan said the company had experienced its best three months of operations since an “organisational reset” Catena undertook in mid-2024. He said the company will invest in growing verticals, such as prediction markets and loyalty programs, to strengthen the business.
A closer look at Catena Media financials suggests it still faces major liquidity struggles, deferring interest payments on €43.7m worth of securities despite slashing its workforce by 40 per cent in two years.
Catena operates USA-focused casino and sports betting affiliate businesses.
Q4 performance
In Q4 2025, revenue from continuing operations rose 53% to €15.6m, up from €10.2m in the prior year. This growth was however entirely dependent on a single vertical (Casino) and a single market (USA).
The Casino segment generated €13.9m (89% of group revenue), while the Sports segment continued its multi-year decline, falling 33% year-on-year to just €1.7m. The company said it expects “headwinds” in the Sports segment to continue in the near future.
North America now accounts for 98% of total company revenue. Casino sweepstakes were a “primary growth engine” in Q4, the company said.
The company did not quantify the expected impact a social sweepstakes casino ban in California – the largest US state – will have on the bottom line. When asked about the ban by investors, Stan said that while the ban would hurt, Catena expects its sweepstakes business in the USA will continue to grow overall.
Adjusted EBITDA reached €4.7m in Q4, though the group recorded a full-year net loss of €11.3m for 2025. This was driven primarily by a €16.5m impairment charge recognised in Q3 on North American sports assets and Asia-Pacific casino assets.
Adjusted personnel expenses fell 27% for the full year as headcount was aggressively reduced to 151 employees by the end of 2025, a 41% reduction from the 256 it employed in December 2023.
“Direct Costs” surged 227% in Q4 to €4.6m, as the company leaned more on third-party subaffiliation traffic through its MRKTPLAYS+ platform.
In a call with investors, Stan cautioned that the company has seen high volatility in organic search traffic at the start of this year, saying Q1 2026 performance so far has been “mixed”.
Ballooning interest payments
The most significant risk to Catena’s long-term solvency is the treatment of its H01 hybrid capital securities, which total €43.7m.
Catena has now deferred interest payments on the securities for three consecutive periods, and says it “expects to continue deferring additional interest payments.”
The company says it is doing that to direct capital “towards technology-driven initiatives efforts that support revenue growth and strategic priorities.” But directing that capital is coming at a heavy price.
So far, the company has accumulated €4m in unpaid obligations and is now accruing compounding interest at a rate of 11% plus the three-month STIBOR, which is hovering between 3% and 4%.
The company’s H01 securities obligations do not appear as debt on the company’s balance sheet as they are treated as equity under IFRS.
Earlier in the month, Catena received notice that Danish investment firm Nordic Compound Invest A/S acquired a 5% stake in the company.
