SUMMARY
- M-League experienced a 22% increase in revenue, reaching $130 million in FY24.
- The company’s overall expenditure increased by 2% to Rs 1,393.2 crore in FY24.
- The company’s losses increased by 21.2% to Rs 374.9 crore in FY24.
Updated: November 6, 2024
Despite facing regulatory challenges, M-League, the parent company of Mobile Premier League (MPL), has managed to achieve substantial growth in revenue in FY24.
According to the consolidated financial statements filed by its group company, M-League Ltd in Singapore, MPL’s revenue from operations grew 22.2% to reach Rs 1,068 crore ($127.9 million) during FY24, up from Rs 873.7 crore ($104.63 million) in FY23.
Mobile Premier League operates an online gaming platform that offers a variety of categories, such as fantasy sports, adventure, and action games. The firm was also engaged in the sale of sporting merchandise, but it discontinued this vertical during FY23.
MPL generated 99% of its revenue from online gaming, while the remaining income came from advertisements and other operating activities. Including non-operating income, the company’s overall revenue surged to Rs 1,085.17 crore or $130 million in FY24.
The subsidiaries of MPL are incorporated in various countries, including India, Indonesia, Germany, Singapore, and the United States. All these entities are owned by the group company, M-League Ltd, which is headquartered in Singapore.
Geographically, India remains the largest market for MPL, contributing 69% to the total revenue in FY24. This is followed by Europe, the United States, and Nigeria, which contributed 27.9%, 2.6%, and 0.5% respectively. It’s worth noting that MPL did not generate any revenue in Singapore during the last fiscal year, which had previously accounted for 3.5% of the total revenue in FY23.
In terms of geographical revenue growth, the Indian market saw a 35.2% increase in revenue, reaching Rs 737.1 crore. Europe also experienced an 11.8% growth in revenue, reaching Rs 298.10 crore in FY24. However, revenue from the United States declined by 11.7% to Rs 27.81 crore. Meanwhile, Nigeria, which had no revenue last year, generated Rs 5 crore in revenue.
Advertising and promotional costs were the largest cost overhead, accounting for 31.8% of the total expenses. This cost increased by 6.8% to Rs 442.97 crore in FY24. Following the layoffs of 350 employees in August 2023, employee benefit expenses shrank by 28% to Rs 429.53 crore. This cost also includes ESOP (Employee Stock Option Plan) costs worth Rs 121.4 crore in FY24.
Other major expenses, such as hosting & IT support services, payment gateway, royalty, and licensing fees, also contributed significantly to the total expenses. The company’s overall expenditure increased by 2% to Rs 1,393.2 crore in FY24, up from Rs 1,365.7 crore in FY23.
Despite controlled cash expenditures, the company’s losses increased by 21.2% to Rs 374.9 crore ($44.9 million), which can be attributed to the fair value loss on financial instruments worth Rs 92.93 crore. Excluding this fair value loss, the company’s adjusted loss stands at Rs 282 crore.
The company’s operational efficiency is also evident from its positive operating cash flows of Rs 157 crore in the last fiscal year, compared to Rs -531.8 crore in FY23. Its EBITDA margin and ROCE stood at -21.39% and -32.88%, respectively. On a unit level, MPL spent Rs 1.3 to earn a rupee of operating revenue in FY24.
Amid GST regulations and other legal challenges, the firm also shut down its web3 fantasy platform Striker in December.
MPL has raised $395 million in funding to date from investors including Peak XV Partners, SIG Global, GV Games, RTP Global, Moore, and Beenext. It was valued at around $2.3 billion following the Series E funding in September 2021.
Original: October 23, 2024
The parent company of the skill-gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL), M-League, experienced a 22% increase in revenue, reaching $130 million in FY24.
MPL’s revenue in India surged by over 35%, amounting to $88 million in the same period. The company also reported a 60% rise in both its Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) and the number of cash-paying monthly active users.
Additionally, M-League achieved a breakeven with an Adjusted EBITDA of $0.2 million, a significant improvement from the previous year’s negative $44.7 million.
The company attributes this turnaround to cost-cutting measures and operational efficiency, especially at its key main platform. The statement followed, “We focused on innovation, streamlined processes to reduce costs, and accelerated time to market for new games.”
Employee benefit expenses decreased by 33.03%, from $55.1 million in FY23 to $36.9 million in FY24, while other expenses remained relatively stable at around $92.8 million.
M-League’s European subsidiary, GameDuell, experienced a 50% revenue growth since its acquisition in 2022. GameDuell’s focus has shifted towards Free-to-Play (F2P) games, with 70% of its revenue now being sourced from this model.
The statement further added, “Our success with GameDuell has strengthened our confidence in the Free-to-Play model. We believe that F2P represents the next big opportunity. The F2P market in India is on the same level that skill gaming was in 2018 when MPL started.”
MPL, founded in 2018 by Sai Srinivas Kiran and Shubham Malhotra, achieved unicorn status at a valuation of $2.3 billion in 2021 after a funding round led by Legatum Capital, a UAE-based investment firm. Other notable investors on the company’s cap table include Peak XV (then Sequoia Capital) and RTP Global.
