Catena Media announces ‘rightsizing’ of content marketing teams

Catena Media has announced 29 layoffs as part of its ‘ongoing transition to a leaner, product-led organisation.’

The company said the job cuts, effective from 1st November, will generate an annual cost saving of approximately €2.2 million.

Severance packages due to the employees affected are set to cost around €400,000.

The streamlining programme is focused on Catena Media’s content production and content marketing teams, with the company saying that the “rightsizing” will “deliver a flatter organisational structure and create closer alignment with product goals.”

In the company announcement posted to the Malta Stock Exchange, Catena Media said the changes represent “part of management’s strategy to focus more on product development, to address monetisation efforts to a smaller core of flagship products, and to diversify revenue streams.”

It continued: “The content team plays a vital role in Catena Media’s success, and refining its alignment will allow the company to diversify its funnel through investments in marketing, SEO, conversion rate optimisation and technology.”

Catena Media CEO Manuel Stan said: “As part of our drive to embed our new product-led organisation, we are optimising the operational teams to achieve a flatter structure that is more closely aligned with our product goals.

“Today, our priority is to support all the individuals who are affected by the changes.”

Q3 results

In a separate update, Catena Media announced its preliminary financial results for the third quarter of 2024.

Preliminary figures for the quarter indicate that revenue will be between €10.5 million and €11 million, down from €15.9 million for the same quarter of the previous year.

Total adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of €1-1.5 million (2023Q3: €3.2 million), corresponding to a margin of 10-14 per cent.

A non-cash impairment charge of €40 million has been recognised, relating to the writedown in the book value of specific sports betting assets following the implementation of a new product operating model in recent months.

The company said that the transition to the new model includes a strategic decision to focus product development efforts on a cluster of core brands.

“As a result, the book value of certain non-core products has been determined to have decreased. The impairment charge also takes account of changes in book value estimates that have arisen due to the group’s underperformance in sports betting in recent quarters.”

Catena Media CEO Manuel Stan commented: “It is important that our balance sheet reflects current realities. In sports betting, we have been operating at a loss for an extended period. We have responded to market challenges by shifting resources away from loss-making products and into those that we believe have the best potential to generate long-term value. I believe that this strategy will position us for success in the coming quarters.”

The CEO continued: “In Q3 I was also pleased to see an improvement in the cost base following the non-renewal of certain media partnerships and the optimisation of other agreements. This reduced top-line revenue but positively impacted adjusted EBITDA.”

He acknowledged that “the market is looking for signs of a return to revenue growth,” saying that “although the figures reported today do not yet show that improvement, we see positive signals from the changes we have made in recent months such as a leaner cost base and improved search rankings, and we remain on course to achieve our objective.”