Keywords Studios has revealed that it almost doubled its profits for the first half of the year thanks to a booming demand for video games during the pandemic.
The Irish technical services provider, which boasts Nintendo, Netflix and Google among its clients, reported pre tax profits of £33.9 million (€39.7 million), up from £18.5 million (€21.7 million) during the same period in 2020.
Group revenue for the six months to 30 June also jumped to £204.1 million (€238.7 million), up from £148.3 million (€173.5 million), marking a 37.6 per cent increase.
Keywords Studios has revealed that it almost doubled its profits for the first half of the year thanks to a booming demand for video games during the pandemic
Moving into the second half of the year, Keywords Studios says trading has ‘started well’, with strong demand for most of its services driven by the buoyant video games market.
The continuing trend means it is on track to deliver the recently raised market expectations for the full year and it declared an interim dividend of 0.7 pence a share.
This represents an increase of 20.7 per cent from the 2019 interim dividend. There was no interim dividend in 2020.
The London-listed firm also noted in its trading report that following the retirement in June 2021 of CEO Andrew Day the search process for his successor is ‘very well advanced’ with a further announcement expected in the coming weeks.
The group continues to drive its strategy forward with Jon Hauck, CFO, and Sonia Sedler, COO, as joint interim CEOs, supported by the broader leadership team
Commenting on the half year results, Jon Hauck, Keywords Studios’ CFO and joint interim said: ‘The Group has delivered another strong performance and we are seeing ongoing high levels of demand for our services, driven by a buoyant wider video games market which has a renewed focus on content creation.
‘We have continued our acquisition strategy which is building the group into the ‘go to’ service provider globally.
‘Looking forward, we expect the strong demand to continue, giving us confidence in delivering a full year performance in line with recently increased market expectations, and our financial strength leaves us well placed to continue to complement organic growth with value-accretive acquisitions.’
Established in 1998, and now with over 70 facilities in 23 countries, Keywords Studios provides a range of services including integrated art creation, marketing services, game development and player support services.
The company has a strong market position, providing services to 23 of the top 25 most prominent games companies.