Playtika is axing two executive roles in an effort to streamline its management team.
CEO Robert Antokol said as part of the company’s Q1 24 financial results that the chief operating officer and chief revenue officer roles at the company have been eliminated, with Shlomi Aizenberg and Ofer Kinberg leaving the company.
All of the former COO and CRO’s direct reports will now answer to Antokol, and chief marketing officer Nir Korczak, who previously reported to the CRO, will also now report directly to the CEO.
“The actions we are taking, including restructuring our executive team and streamlining leadership, are designed to position us to return to growth in the mobile gaming sector, enhancing decision-making and creating potential for increased value for our players and shareholders,” said CEO Antokol.
Playtika earned ~26% of its revenue from direct to consumer payments last quarter, according to its financial results. Q1 24 revenue was $651.2m, a drop of 0.8% year-over-year, with direct to consumer platform revenue of $171.5m, up 13.2% YoY. Credit Adjusted EBITDA was $185.6m, a 16.7% YoY decline.
It also provided detail on its three top performing games for the quarter, all of which were down year-over-year. Bingo Blitz saw revenue of $157.5m, down 1% YoY; Solitaire Grand Harvest posted $77.8m in revenue, a decrease of 8.9% YoY; Slotomania revenue was $135.4m, a drop of 7.6% YoY.
Playtika also announced a stock repurchase program for up to $150m in common stock. This will “offset the dilutive effects of equity awards granted to the company’s directors, officers, and employees,” it said.
The company also reiterated its desire to engage in further M&A, though it did not reference the $600m-$1.2bn it said it had earmarked for dealmaking in February.
“I think it’s important to be close to the entire ecosystem,” said president and CFO Craig Abrahams in the earnings call that followed. “So having the ability to make investments is an important part of the toolkit, as we develop relationships with a variety of studios. Obviously our preference is to make acquisitions where we can leverage our live ops capabilities and help these businesses grow.”
Playtika also provided some other stats on its player base in the financial report, stating that it had 309k average daily paying users, a decrease of 5.2% YoY, and average payer conversion was slightly down from 3.6% the prior year to 3.5%.
