Catena Media reported a 14% year-over-year decline in revenue during its second-quarter earnings call, totaling 12.8 million euros.
The company has been undergoing a rapid adaptation period, facing numerous technical challenges that can be traced back to Google's constantly changing algorithms, which have impacted some of the industry's most established affiliates.
Catena, under new leadership, strives to address past mistakes
Catena is no exception, with its operational performance declining. Nevertheless, under the leadership of new CEO Manuel Stan, who took over the company on July 1 and has been critical of the previous leadership, Catena has been adapting quickly.
Stan argues that his predecessor, Pierre Cardin, indeed showed adept leadership but made the mistake of "over-diversifying" the group's resources, the current leadership somewhat critically believes.
"The new board and management unanimously agree that a laser-sharp operational focus is needed for adjustment. We are now in a better position to focus on core products and drive revenue," Stan stated during the earnings call.
Currently, 88% of Catena Media's revenue comes from the North American market, which remains the bulk of the company's operations. However, the company's earnings update reflected an 11% decline in market revenue to 11.2 million euros.
More importantly, the number of depositing customers has decreased by 17%, from 36,935 a year ago to 31,475. Both figures relate to the number of depositing customers in the second quarter.
Similarly, EBITDA shrank by more than 67% to 700,000 euros, the company noted in the update. Stan tries to balance providing criticism and leadership guidance, believing that when he took over the company, he saw a lot of "energy" being directed into areas that might not always be ideal.
However, Stan has been able to organize the board and complete a comprehensive review, which will enable the company to move away from some underperforming areas and shift team members and resources to the company's best products.
Importantly, Stan noted that the company has been able to push through some significant changes at the end of the second quarter, which should be reflected in the third quarter's balance sheet. Stan explained that some important media partnerships had been negotiated.
The company is also rethinking its sports betting strategy and hopes to replicate the successful model used to promote online casino products in that field. Despite these rather bleak performances, the company remains optimistic about the future.
