Modern Times Group (MTG) CMD 2025 summary

Strategic direction and transformation

• Pursues a buy-and-build strategy, acquiring studios with evergreen games and strong financials, resulting in a global footprint and over 90 live games entertaining 9 million daily users.

• Transformation includes integration of Plarium, creation of Midcore and Casual Districts, and a new district-based structure to unlock synergies and value, with implementation from January 2026.

• Evolving brand and internal culture, engaging employees in rebranding and reinforcing commitment to growth and entertainment relevance.

• Plans to expand the gaming village by welcoming new studios and potentially adding a third district.

• Maintains disciplined M&A, capital allocation, and value creation, with a tenfold revenue growth track record over eight years.

Financial guidance and performance

• 2025 guidance: organic growth of 7–9%, total reported revenue of SEK 11.4–11.7 billion, and adjusted EBITDA margin of 21–24%.

• Medium-term targets: organic growth of 3–7%, EBITDA margin above 24%, and unlevered cash conversion over 60%.

• Achieved over 2x revenue and ~3x adjusted EBITDA since 2021, driven by capital recycling, strong cash generation, and minimal equity dilution.

• Strong cash generation with SEK 14 billion generated since 2022, SEK 4 billion returned to shareholders, and SEK 10 billion invested in M&A.

• Announced a SEK 400 million share buyback program running until 15 May 2026.

Business developments and operational initiatives

• Midcore District leverages shared services, proprietary tech, and unified analytics/marketing platforms, targeting over USD 20 million in annualized cost savings by end of 2026.

• Focus on evergreen titles like Raid: Shadow Legends and Forge of Empires, with long-term engagement and high monetization; new games pipeline aims for 2–4 soft launches per year.

• Casual District, led by PlaySimple, is scaling through operational excellence, AI-driven platform, and localization, with ~60% revenue and ~145% DAU growth since acquisition.

• AI adoption has reduced art creation time by up to 50%, increased code writing speed by 10%, and enabled rapid localization and marketing asset production.

• Direct-to-consumer initiatives, including web stores and proprietary platforms, are expanding to reduce platform fees and improve margins, with DTC share of revenues growing.