Revenue for the quarter, however, grew by 2% to Rs 320 crore, up from Rs 315 crore a year ago. For the nine months ended December 2023, the firm saw its revenue grow by 9% to Rs 872 crore, while profit after tax jumped 44% to Rs 75 crore.
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Nazara’s esports division, which includes businesses like esports and media firm Nodwin and sports news firm Sportskeeda, contributed 55% of the firm’s overall revenue in the nine months ended December.
Meanwhile, the gaming division that houses properties like edtech products Kiddopia and Animal Farm, as well as its real money gaming (RMG) firm Openplay, brought in 36% of overall revenues, with the rest of the 9% coming from the advertising tech business.
In terms of geography, 46% of Nazara’s revenue came from the Indian market, while 38% was contributed by the North America market for the nine-month period.
For the quarter ended December, Nodwin was the largest driver of revenue, bringing in Rs 134 crore. However, the division registered a negative earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of Rs 2 crore, said Nitish Mittersain, cofounder and chief executive of Nazara Technologies.
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“We are not pushing for margins for Nodwin as we believe it is a business with a very large growth opportunity, and we would prefer an aggressive growth stance for the near future for this division,” Mittersain told ET in an interaction. On the other hand, its sports news and content firm Sportskeeda was the biggest driver of profitability, delivering an Ebitda of Rs 27 crore in the quarter, a 91% jump on year. The division brought in Rs 60 crore in revenue, a 68% increase from a year ago, Mittersain said.
The division’s performance was boosted by its robust US business, where it serves news and content around games like the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL) and esports tournaments, he added.
Nazara spent Rs 144 crore in costs related to purchase, content, events and web server in the third quarter—its highest cost component, up from Rs 139 crore spent a year ago. The next biggest cost for the firm was employee benefits, where it spent Rs 48 crore.
The firm is now in advanced talks for two to three potential acquisitions, Mittersain said. Nazara Technologies will also be looking to acquire more properties to boost its RMG division called Openplay, which currently contributes about 4% of its total revenue.
“From our standpoint, now is a great time to make deals in the RMG sector. Even though there is short term pain (due to higher indirect taxes), the government is clarifying its stance on various aspects like taxes, and in the long term it will benefit the sector,” Mittersain said, adding that he wasn’t immediately looking for RMG acquisitions in the next few months.
On January 18, ET reported that Nazara had raised Rs 250 crore from existing investors including ICICI Prudential and Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath, as part of an overall Rs 750 crore fundraising. With that, Nazara had an overall cash position of Rs 1,500 crore, with Rs 500 crore of that coming from its subsidiaries, Mittersain had told ET at the time.
Revenue for the quarter, however, grew by 2% to Rs 320 crore, up from Rs 315 crore a year ago. For the nine months ended December 2023, the firm saw its revenue grow by 9% to Rs 872 crore, while profit after tax jumped 44% to Rs 75 crore.
Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill Courses
| Offering College | Course | Website |
|---|---|---|
| IIM Lucknow | IIML Executive Programme in FinTech, Banking & Applied Risk Management | Visit |
| Indian School of Business | ISB Product Management | Visit |
| IIT Delhi | IITD Certificate Programme in Data Science & Machine Learning | Visit |
Nazara’s esports division, which includes businesses like esports and media firm Nodwin and sports news firm Sportskeeda, contributed 55% of the firm’s overall revenue in the nine months ended December.
Meanwhile, the gaming division that houses properties like edtech products Kiddopia and Animal Farm, as well as its real money gaming (RMG) firm Openplay, brought in 36% of overall revenues, with the rest of the 9% coming from the advertising tech business.
In terms of geography, 46% of Nazara’s revenue came from the Indian market, while 38% was contributed by the North America market for the nine-month period.
For the quarter ended December, Nodwin was the largest driver of revenue, bringing in Rs 134 crore. However, the division registered a negative earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of Rs 2 crore, said Nitish Mittersain, cofounder and chief executive of Nazara Technologies.
Discover the stories of your interest
“We are not pushing for margins for Nodwin as we believe it is a business with a very large growth opportunity, and we would prefer an aggressive growth stance for the near future for this division,” Mittersain told ET in an interaction. On the other hand, its sports news and content firm Sportskeeda was the biggest driver of profitability, delivering an Ebitda of Rs 27 crore in the quarter, a 91% jump on year. The division brought in Rs 60 crore in revenue, a 68% increase from a year ago, Mittersain said.
The division’s performance was boosted by its robust US business, where it serves news and content around games like the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL) and esports tournaments, he added.
Nazara spent Rs 144 crore in costs related to purchase, content, events and web server in the third quarter—its highest cost component, up from Rs 139 crore spent a year ago. The next biggest cost for the firm was employee benefits, where it spent Rs 48 crore.
The firm is now in advanced talks for two to three potential acquisitions, Mittersain said. Nazara Technologies will also be looking to acquire more properties to boost its RMG division called Openplay, which currently contributes about 4% of its total revenue.
“From our standpoint, now is a great time to make deals in the RMG sector. Even though there is short term pain (due to higher indirect taxes), the government is clarifying its stance on various aspects like taxes, and in the long term it will benefit the sector,” Mittersain said, adding that he wasn’t immediately looking for RMG acquisitions in the next few months.
On January 18, ET reported that Nazara had raised Rs 250 crore from existing investors including ICICI Prudential and Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath, as part of an overall Rs 750 crore fundraising. With that, Nazara had an overall cash position of Rs 1,500 crore, with Rs 500 crore of that coming from its subsidiaries, Mittersain had told ET at the time.