Nazara Shares Jump Over 16% Following Sportskeeda’s US Foray

Continuing Wednesday’’s rally, shares of gaming major Nazara Technologies jumped as much as 16.8% to touch INR 814.30 around noon, on the BSE on Thursday (June 6).

The shares opened at INR 714.15, as compared to INR 697 at previous day’s close. Nazara shares were trading at INR 804.55 at 12:38 PM on Thursday.

This comes a day after Nazara Technologies’ subsidiary Absolute Sports marked its US market foray by acquiring all the assets of Pennsylvania-based entertainment news site Soap Central for $1.4 Mn (around INR 11.6 Cr) in an all-cash deal.

With this buyout, Absolute Sports, the parent entity of Sportskeeda and Pro Football Network, aims to become one of the leading sports and entertainment focus publishers in the US market, the company said.

Established in 2009, Absolute Sports, through its flagship brand Sportskeeda.com, is a global sports media platform covering sports and esports topics, claiming to reach over 100 Mn fans monthly. Nazara acquired a majority stake in Absolute Sports in 2019.

It is noteworthy that after a nearly 48% rise in 2023, Nazara’s shares showed some weakness starting mid-January this year.

Despite the company reporting a significant year-on-year net profit increase of over 46% in its Q3 FY24 financial results, the stock did not see appreciable growth. By mid-March, the shares had dropped to a nine-month low of INR 632.

However, the tide turned following the announcement of its Q4 FY24 earnings, with Nazara’s shares experiencing an upward trend. Last week, the shares surged by 14.2% overall.

The company’s consolidated net profit declined 98% to INR 18 Lakh in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) from INR 9.4 Cr in the year-ago quarter. Sequentially, the company’s profit also saw a significant decline from INR 29.5 Cr in Q3 FY24.

Nazara attributed this to charges of INR 11.37 Cr due to goodwill impairments and INR 10.56 Cr for intangible assets related to the gaming segment during Q4.

The company’s profit from continued operations was at INR 17.1 Cr for the quarter, as compared to INR 11.9 Cr in Q4FY23.

However, its operating revenue declined 8% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 266.2 Cr in Q4 FY24 from INR 289.3 Cr in the same quarter a year ago.

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