Keywords expects $186m in revenues after 11 acquisitions in 2017
Service empire's studio count has grown eightfold in the last five years
Keywords Studios' latest trading update indicates another hugely successful year for the ever-growing services firm.
The company expects revenues for 2017 to be no less than €150m ($186.5m) - a 55 per cent increase over the €96.6m ($120m) it reported last year. It's also forecasting profit before tax of €22.5m ($27.9m), up year-on-year from €14.9m ($18.5m).
The news follows 11 acquisitions over the course of the last year, including LOLA, D3T, GameSim, XLOC, Sperasoft and VMC - the latter two being Keywords' largest purchases to date.
In fact, the trading update gives a good insight into how this seemingly endless string of acquisitions has grown the company.
In July 2013, following a successful IPO, Keywords was comprised of five production studios in five countries. Today, it stands at 42 production studios in 20 countries - marking eightfold and fourfold increases respectively.
"We are delighted with the Group's performance as we grew revenues and profits strongly again this year," said CEO Andrew Day. "Our ever-increasing geographic footprint and broader range of services have combined to grow market share, introduce additional services to established clients and win new clients.
"The eleven acquisitions in 2017 demonstrate strong progress in our strategy to selectively consolidate the fragmented video games market and generate synergies through scale, and our entry into engineering and particularly co-development, enhances our positioning as a strategic partner to game developers and publishers, whilst continuing to ensure we are not directly exposed to the commercial performance of individual titles.
"We look forward to another year of strong progress as we continue to invest in existing and new businesses, building our talent pool and integrating the newer members of our group."