Cherry lowers full-year forecast on ComeOn integration woes

Nordic online gambling operator Cherry AB said its Q3 profitability was negatively impacted by the difficult integration of its new ComeOn acquisition.

An interim report released Wednesday show the Nasdaq Stockholm-listed Cherry reporting revenue of SEK 567m (US $67.6m) in the three months ending September 30, a 165% rise over Q3 2016.

The triple-digit gain reflects last year’s acquisition of ComeOn Malta Ltd and its multiple online gambling brands. Stripping aside those contributions, organic growth was a more modest but still respectable 30%. Cherry’s Q3 earnings improved 263% to SEK 112m while profit rose more than one-third to SEK 42m.

For the year-to-date, Cherry’s revenue is up 182% (or 36% organically) to SEK 1.64b, while earnings soared 304% to SEK 288m and profit jumped nearly two-thirds to SEK 93m.