One Championship parent reports higher revenue, losses widen

Group One Holdings, a Singapore-based media platform known for its mixed martial arts content under the One Championship brand, saw widening losses despite higher revenue for its 2021 financial year.

The group reported US$67.7 million in revenue for FY 2021, up 19.2% from the previous year. However, its losses were marked at US$111 million for the year, more than double the US$49.2 million loss seen in FY 2020.

A company spokesperson told Tech in Asia that “2020 was an anomaly” due to the restrictions imposed on Group One by Covid-19, which led to the group being unable to host any live events for several months. They added that the widening loss was due to the resumption of spending in hosting live events.

The largest chunk of the loss comes from the fair value loss of US$38.9 million on convertible notes from operating cash flow adjustments. The spokesperson explained that this was due to note holders converting them into equity and that it was a one-off event. Discounting this, Group One’s losses narrowed to US$72.1 million.

Some other major factors leading to the higher losses include increased expenses in marketing and event production by US$9.4 million and US$6.5 million, respectively, along with amortization of intangible assets amounting to US$2.5 million.

The increased spending might have played a factor in the firm’s One Championship platform reaching second highest overall in digital viewership in 2021. It racked up over 13.8 billion video views across social media, according to a Nielsen report.

“In 2021, as restrictions started to lift, we were able to resume investment in our core product of live events,” the spokesperson added.

The increased viewership is reflected in Group One’s revenue as well, with the contribution from the digital platform segment coming in at about US$7 million for FY 2021, more than triple compared to the year before.

The media platform also managed to build up more cash and fixed deposit assets, ending the financial year with US$172.2 million in that asset category alone, compared to US$88 million at the end of FY 2020.

This allowed the group to secure US$165.9 million in net assets for FY 2021, compared to US$31.2 million in the year before. The increase in cash could be attributed to Group One’s financing activities, which include the issuance of new shares worth US$174 million as well as a US$150 million equity financing round completed in December 2021.

Most of the group’s funds are also held in US dollars. As the currency has appreciated 12% since the end of 2021, Group One’s war chest should be bolstered by the favorable exchange rate as well.

Group One Holdings founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong / Photo credit: One Championship