Angry Birds maker Rovio predicts bumper 2019 despite halved profits
The maker of the mobile game Angry Birds said its profit halved over the most recent quarter, but expected a brighter future as the year goes on.
Rovio reported adjusted profit of €5.3m (£4.7m) for the three months to the end of December, down from €10.5m in the same quarter a year earlier. This was despite its profit rising in the third quarter to an uncharacteristically high €10.4m.
Sales fell 1.7 per cent to €72.7m during the quarter, and to €281.2m for the full year.
The Finnish firm, which listed in Helsinki in 2017, has largely suffered due to being overly reliant on the Angry Birds branding, first launched in 2009.
Read more: Angry Birds maker Rovio shares spike on rising profits
The company forecast its sales to rise to between €300m and €330m in 2019, boosted by a sequel to the Angry Birds movie due for release in August. The first movie, which came out in 2016, earned about $350m (£273.8m) during its theatrical run.
Rovio said it expects "the movie and surrounding marketing to boost our licensing business as well as drive users to our Angry Birds games towards the end of 2019".
The news comes after mobile gaming rival Supercell, which created popular games such as Clash of Clans and Clash Royale, reported its second consecutive year of falling profits and sales earlier this week.
Read more: Clash of Clans maker reports second consecutive year of falling profits
Despite Clash of Clans being the fourth most-widely-played smartphone game last year, Supercell said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) fell to €537m (£470.8m) from €729m in 2017.
The firm's woes are similar to that of many in the mobile gaming industry, which has struggled to keep up with the success of multiplayer streaming games such as Fortnite and Playerunknown Battlegrounds.
Shares in Rovio fell as much as 10 per cent during the day's trading in Helsinki, before closing down 3.3 per cent.