CentralNic Group - Fireball, .ruhr and strong organic growth

Alongside the announcement of two small acquisitions in Germany, CentralNic’s management has confirmed continuing high organic revenue growth in Q122 (FY21: 37%), driven largely by the performance of the online marketing segment. Management is still acquiring strategic assets as part of its vertical integration strategy, with the Fireball Search and .ruhr top-level domain (TLD) deals bought for total cash consideration of €0.6m, at implied multiples of 0.3x sales and 0.6x EBITDA. The acquisitions are expected to be immediately earnings accretive. The continued segmental growth underlines that CentralNic’s privacy-safe approach to online marketing, is proving both resilient and attractive. We have yet to revise our forecasts, which we will review with the FY21 preliminary results, expected on 28 February. However, CentralNic trades on an undemanding rating given its robust growth, with management confident of the full-year outlook.