CentralNic Group - Strong growth, but lower Q2 margins

In its trading update, management indicated that it expects H120 revenues in excess of US$110m, with adjusted EBITDA of at least US$15m. Cash increased to US$27.6m at 30 June 2020, while net debt fell marginally to US$76.4m. This would indicate relatively strong Q2 revenues of US$53.6m (Q1: US$56.4m), but a fall in Q2 adjusted EBITDA to US$6.9m (Q1: US$8.1m), meaning lower Q2 margins of 12.9% (Q1: 14.4%). On this basis, revenues would be c 11% ahead of our H120 estimates (US$99.1m), but EBITDA only c 2.7% ahead (US$14.6m) with H120 margins of 13.6% vs our estimate of 14.7%. At this stage, with limited visibility on the performance of the underlying businesses and with no forward guidance, we intend to leave our forecasts unchanged, pending review after the interim results on 1 September 2020.