Keywords Studios declares dividends as FY profits surge

Video games industry services provider Keyword Studios announced a full-year dividend payment of 2.15p on Wednesday as it revealed both revenues and profits had stormed ahead in 2021.

Keywords stated group revenues were up 37.1% year-on-year at €512.2m, driven by 19% organic growth, while adjusted underlying earnings were 48.4% stronger at €110.1m, and adjusted pre-tax profits shot up 56.4% to €86.0m. Adjusted earnings per share were 46.5% higher at EUR 89.24 cents.

The AIM-listed firm noted that its acquisitive model was responsible for much of its revenue growth, with €65.5m net cash spent on six purchases across Australia, the UK, Romania, and the US during 2021.

Keywords also recommended a final dividend of 1.45p per share, taking its total dividend for 2021 to 2.15p per share.

Chief executive Bertrand Bodson said: "The underlying video games market remains buoyant, with 2022 expected to be a particularly strong year for new game launches, as developers and publishers look to capitalise on higher player numbers and create ever more sophisticated content to engage players in their games for longer.

"Trading in the first quarter has started well, and we continue to see strong demand across all of our service lines, underpinning our confidence in delivering a performance for the full year towards the top end of current market expectations8. We expect the group's trading momentum to continue through 2022, with the increased flow of content to our later stage service lines seen in the second half of 2021 continuing into this year, alongside further strong demand for our earlier stage services such as game development, art creation and marketing."

As of 1020 BST, Keywords shares were up 4.45% at 2,442.0p.