Hello, everyone, and welcome to Gambling.com Group's third quarter 2021 earnings results call. I'm joined by Charles Gillespie, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, as well as Elias Mark, Chief Financial Officer. This call is being webcast live within the investor relations section of our website at gambling.com/corporate/investors, and a downloadable version of the presentation is available there as well. A webcast replay will also be available on the website after the conclusion of this call, and you may contact investor relations support by emailing investors@gdcgroup.com. I'd like to remind you that the information contained in this conference call, including any financial and related guidance to be provided, consists of forward-looking statements as defined by securities law.
These statements are based on information currently available to us and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future results, performance, and business prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these statements. Some important factors that could cause such differences are discussed in the Risk Factors section of Gambling.com Group's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made, and the company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual future results, changes in assumptions, or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. During the call, there will also be a discussion of non-IFRS financial measures.
A description of these non-IFRS financial measures is included in the press release issued this morning, and reconciliations of these non-IFRS financial measures to their most directly comparable IFRS measure are included in the appendix of the presentation and press release, both of which are available in the Investors tab of our website. I'll now turn the call over to Charles.
Thank you, Ryan, and welcome everyone. This morning, we reported our third quarter financial results, which continue to demonstrate the unique strength of the affiliate model within the broader online gambling industry. For those following with slides, I'm now on slide four. Our third quarter revenue grew by 37% compared to the prior year, and despite the third quarter being the seasonally slowest quarter of the year, we delivered adjusted EBITDA of $3.5 million and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 34%. Identical to last quarter, all of our growth was organic, and we remain well-positioned to increase growth further through acquisitions. Net income totaled $4.7 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, compared to $2.3 million, or $0.08 per diluted share in the prior year.
We generated free cash flow of $0.8 million, compared to $3.9 million in the prior year. The decline is mainly due to non-recurring payments associated with the IPO. Our successful IPO on the Nasdaq Global Market in July was indeed the highlight of the third quarter. We also took important steps in Q3 to solidify our foundation for strong future organic growth in the United States. We launched betarizona.com in time for the NFL season to provide sports betting fans in Arizona with comprehensive state-specific betting information. We also launched marylandbets.com and two new websites for the Netherlands to establish our positions in these new markets and provide local bettors with trusted and up-to-date gambling information to help them place safe and secure legal wagers.
Importantly, after the seasonally quiet months of July and August, we delivered the strongest revenue month in the company's history in September. We saw a significant uplift in our U.S. revenue in September, and our U.S. performance exceeded our internal expectations. We have been encouraged to see that strength carry over into the start of the seasonally stronger fourth quarter. Now I'm on slide five. Our main markets today are the U.K., Ireland, the U.S., and Canada, and we also serve several other European markets. Globally, and in particular within North America, we continue to see strong momentum from legislators to further legalize the increasingly normalized activity of online gambling.
Our top priority is to continue to grow our market share in the U.S., where we still see the nascent U.S. market becoming the world's largest online gambling market in the coming years. During and after the quarter, we have continued to add additional domains to our portfolio to prepare for the launch of online gambling in additional U.S. states. Connecticut's online casino and sports betting is now live as of October 12, and Louisiana is now issuing licenses and grants and waivers for affiliates to do business. We expect Louisiana to launch in early 2022. New York regulators have now also approved nine sportsbooks to launch online in time for Super Bowl LVI. We believe we are well-positioned to service the New York market with multiple media assets. Florida went live on November 2 with a single operator.
While the Florida market structure is not ideal for consumers, we still expect to generate affiliate revenue in Florida in the future. In Canada, Ontario was previously expected to launch regulated online gambling during Q4, but that is now expected to take place in early 2022. In the Netherlands, regulated online casino and sports betting is now live, having recently soft launched in October. However, many of the most important international online gambling operators have yet to receive licenses in the Netherlands, and therefore, we expect to see a positive financial impact in 2022 as more operators go live and the market gains momentum. The German Interstate Treaty went live at the beginning of Q3 on July 1. We believe the German market remains viable, but we have seen revenue volatility and lower NDC values as a result of the legal uncertainties and regulatory restrictions.
We possess widely recognized brands including bookies.com and the iconic gambling.com, and a technology platform that allows us to go to market quickly and efficiently when new markets go live, helping us to build upon our established leading positions across the markets where we currently operate. I'm onto slide six now. Our capital allocation framework is outlined on this slide. Our investment plans center around our organic investment initiatives, but also involve M&A. Organic investment. We invest in our existing consumer-facing websites and our technology platform to continue to drive organic growth, both in our existing markets, where we expect to take market share and by entering newly regulated markets. Organic growth is the foundation of our business strategy. Our organic growth in Q3 was again the highest among our publicly traded peers, which have reported thus far. Asset acquisitions.
As part of the ordinary course of business, we evaluate and acquire useful assets which in the hands of our team can drive additional organic growth. Examples include domain names and small independent websites which our team can take over. These are typically small deals of approximately $1 million or less and are not included in our M&A guidance. We are well-positioned to make attractive approaches to mid-sized targets to drive inorganic growth by integrating their complete businesses and teams into our group. We evaluate a broad range of targets on an ongoing basis and seek to execute an average of one to two deals a year in an approximate range of $20 million-$50 million each. Since the IPO, we have been very busy evaluating and advancing discussions on multiple opportunities.
Despite continuing to invest heavily for organic growth, we remain highly profitable and are not reliant on external financing to fund our organic growth. This gives us a distinct advantage in the online gambling industry and also allows our free cash flow to fund our inorganic growth strategies. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to our CFO, Mr. Elias Mark, to discuss our third quarter financial performance in greater detail.
Thank you, Charles, and welcome everyone. I'll start with a review of our third quarter and year-to-date financial performance before going into our outlook. Total revenue of $10.1 million grew 37% or 30% on a constant currency basis compared to $7.4 million in the same period of the prior year. The increase was driven by improved monetization of NDCs, and we attribute that to a combination of technology improvements and changes in the product and market mix. Total operating expenses grew by $3.8 million, or $3.5 million on a constant currency basis, to $7.7 million, compared to $3.9 million in the prior year.
This increase was driven primarily by expanding headcounts across the entire organization as we invest in the company's organic growth initiatives, as well as increased administrative expenses associated with operating as a public company. Sales and marketing expenses totaled $3.6 million, compared to $1.8 million in the prior year. Technology expenses totaled $1.1 million, compared to $0.6 million in the prior year. General and administrative expenses totaled $3 million, compared to $1.4 million in the prior year. Operating profit in the third quarter decreased 31% to $2.4 million, compared to $3.5 million in the prior year. This decrease was driven primarily by higher operating expenses, including increased share-based payments expenses, and was partly offset by the higher revenue.
Net income in the third quarter totaled $4.7 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, compared to a net income of $2.3 million or $0.08 per diluted share in the prior year. This increase was primarily driven by the recognition of deferred tax assets in the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA decreased by 14% to $3.5 million, compared to $4 million in the prior year. This represents an adjusted EBITDA margin of 34%. The decrease was driven primarily by the increased operating expenses, which again was partly offset by increased revenue. Total cash generated from operations of $1.4 million decreased 65% compared to the $4 million in the prior year. This decrease was driven primarily by the lower EBITDA and non-recurring payments related to the IPO, as well as income tax payments.
Our free cash flow totaled $0.8 million, compared to $3.9 million in the prior year. This decline was the result of decreased cash generating operations as discussed above, as well as increased capital expenditures consisting primarily of acquisition of domains and capitalized development costs. Our new depositing customers in the third quarter decreased 4% to approximately 27,000 compared to the roughly 28,000 in the prior year. Cash balances as of September total $53.2 million. This is an increase of $45 million compared to the $8.2 million at the end of December. This increase was driven by the IPO proceeds, which totaled $42 million before associated expenses, as well as the net income generated by the company improved.
Our borrowings, including accrued interest, total $5.9 million compared to $6 million at the end of December. On to slide eight. Through the first nine months of the year, revenue grew 81% to $32 million compared to $17.7 million in the prior year. Our total operating expenses grew 95% to $21.3 million, compared to $10.9 million in the prior year. This increase was driven by increased headcounts across the board, as well as costs stemming from both the IPO and expenses associated with operating as a public company. The operating profit of $10.8 million increased 59% compared to $6.8 million in the prior year.
Net income of $11.6 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, was significantly higher than the $6.6 million or $0.22 per diluted share in the prior year. Our year-to-date adjusted EBITDA totaled $16.1 million, an 89% increase compared to the prior year. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 50% compared to 48% in the prior year. Cash from operations grew 74% to $12.9 million compared to $6.7 million in the prior year. Our free cash flow of $10.3 million increased 41% compared to $7.3 million in the prior year. Lastly, our new depositing customers increased 29% from approximately 69,000 to roughly 89,000. On to slide nine.
For the years 2021-2023, we are targeting our average annual revenue growth to exceed 40%. In our European business, we target growth faster than the European gambling market over a business cycle. In the United States, we expect to take market share and be a significant actor in the market over the longer term. At the same time, we are targeting an average annualized adjusted EBITDA margin of no less than 40%. It is important to note that our adjusted EBITDA margin may deviate from that target from quarter to quarter due to seasonality and due to investments to support organic growth, primarily focused on the U.S. market. Lastly, we target the net debt to EBITDA leverage ratio of under 2.5x . At the moment, we have negative net debt and very significant cash balances.
These longer-term targets include potential consolidated results from future M&A. On to slide 10. For the full year 2021, we're on track to exceed our 40% revenue growth target, and we expect to achieve our 40% adjusted EBITDA margin target. The outlook is based on information currently available to us and does not factor in potential acquisition, nor does it factor in incurring additional borrowings. It is also important to keep in mind that the first and fourth quarters are seasonally our strongest quarters based on weather in the Northern Hemisphere and the calendar of international sporting events. We remain focused on executing our growth strategy, which includes establishing the group as a leading player in the U.S. market as a top priority.
Also continuing to grow our market share in our more mature European markets and to enter new markets, including newly regulated USA, Canadian provinces and international markets such as the Netherlands as and when they open. With that, we will be happy to take your questions.
At this time, we will be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys. One moment, please, while we poll for questions. Our first question is from Barry Jonas of Truist Securities. Please proceed with your question.
Hey, guys. Good morning. Patrick Keough here for Barry Jonas. You talked a bit about M&A earlier, but just wanted to follow up there. Are you thinking about M&A in terms of expanding the current scope of your business at all or more so just bolstering what you already offer? Thanks.
The current M&A strategy is basically focused on acquiring under-monetized or under-optimized media assets, where we can run our existing business model, which we know and love so much. That would include affiliates, other companies that do exactly what we do, and also digital media properties online that are kind of tangential to the affiliate space, basically web properties that
Essentially would be in a reasonably good position to look at monetizing and running the same business model that we do. We're not looking at anything else at the moment.
Okay, that's great. If I could sneak a follow-up in, just any thoughts on the New York market launching and how you think the high tax rate will affect affiliates, if at all? Thanks.
I think it's an open question for the whole industry, what those high tax rates will really mean in practice. We are very thankful that there are going to be nine different operators in New York to create the necessary competitive dynamic. You know, at the end of the day, we offer a comparison shopping product and more operators is a good thing. I think people won't be too focused on the tax rate at the start, as they aim for market share and a successful launch, and then we'll really see the effects of that tax rate at the end of 2022 and beyond.
Okay, that's great. Appreciate the color, guys. Thanks so much.
No problem.
Our next question is from David Katz of Jefferies. Please proceed with your question.
Hi, gentlemen. Good morning. Thanks for taking my questions. I wanted to go back to the M&A discussion, if I may. To the degree that we could sort of feel likelihood that, say, within, you know, a quarter or two, you know, we'll see more than one deal. I was hoping maybe we could discuss just the $20 million-$50 million size range and talk about the landscape of opportunities out there. Why is that kind of the target size? Are there bigger ones, you know, that would be out there? Why are they not the targets, et cetera?
Good morning, David.
Good morning.
Happy to comment on that. In terms of frequency, or really timing, we don't wanna put any firm stakes in the ground because we think that somewhat undermines our ability to negotiate these deals. All I'll say on that is that we are extremely busy, and we look forward to updating everyone when we can. On size, you know, the thinking internally is, in many respects a bigger deal, a $50 million+ deal is the same amount of work as a $5- or $10 million-dollar deal. In certain respects, it's actually less work because you're probably getting a bigger team, which has more experience.
You know, if it's the same amount of work to do a bigger deal than a smaller deal, you know, all things equal, we prefer to do bigger deals, and that's why we've kind of come out with this guidance of $25 million-$50 million. We would certainly consider things under $25 million if they were very strategic or relevant to something we wanted to achieve. We would certainly consider things over $50 million if again, if it kind of ticked all the right boxes. Then, you know, the idea of one to two is just kind of to say that we're not gonna do too many. You know, if you look at our peers, they've done 30+, 40+, acquisitions. That is not our objective.
We're not trying to go up to that quantum of acquisitions, in neither the short or really the long term.
Thank you. If I can follow up in another direction, please, which is just understanding the landscape for operators. I think you're in a unique position to understand, you know, what their hunger is for incremental market share, you know, given that you help them capture that. What have you seen over the past quarter or so? You know, we on The Street, you know, are increasingly focused on, you know, share, an operator's ability to capture it and what it costs them to do so. What are you seeing over the past couple of quarters from your operators and hearing from them that might be helpful for us in that regard?
I think it's largely unchanged. We haven't seen any big change in behavior in the established markets, particularly in this quarter. What we have seen is in the market launch. If you look at Arizona, people are extremely hungry to take share as soon as a new market opens, and that creates very lucrative business for us and our affiliates. But there is in the U.S., there is ample demand for player acquisition. But that's nothing new. That's continued from the previous quarter and quarters before that.
Okay. Thank you.
Our next question is from Jeff Stantial of Stifel. Please proceed with your question.
Great. Thanks. Morning, Charles. Elias, thanks for taking our questions, and congrats on another nice set of results here. I wanted to start on the promotional environment in the space right now. A couple of your peers did call out low sports hold in July and August and anecdotally into October. You know, that largely factoring the degree of promotional spend dragging down net gaming revenue. You know, was this a headwind that you've been experiencing as well? And if so, do you have a sense for how much it's impacted results during the quarter?
Yeah, it's a great question. We saw those comments as well. I think the key thing to keep in mind with us is that sports is a relatively small part of our business.
Where we are increasing sports market share is the U.S., and the U.S. is really driven by CPA deals. Our, you know, Gambling.com Group, specifically, its exposure to sports betting rev share is not very high. Those low sports betting margins, that is absolutely a thing. That's a valid comment from our peers. You know, you see that between the operators and the software, you know, the sportsbook software suppliers and the affiliates. I think those are valid comments, but it's not one that really affects us.
Okay, great. That's helpful. For my follow-up, I wanted to drill into the other European geography a bit more, you know, revenues more than doubled year-over-year once again. Can you just talk about which markets are driving this strength? An update on how results are faring in Germany, you know, post converting to a white market would be helpful as well. Thanks.
Yeah. If we look year-over-year, we have very significant growth in other Europe, and that's largely driven by Germany and Scandinavia. We have to bear in mind that the comparative period in the previous year, we didn't have substantial German revenue. We saw pretty steep growth in our German business from Q3 2020 until Q2 2021. If you look sequentially, that segment was roughly flat, and that's indicative of NDC values and volatility in the German market playing out.
Okay, perfect. I might just squeeze in one more, if that's all right. You know, I do think talking about Scandinavia, some of the temporary rules on deposit limits in Sweden, I wanna say rolled off recently, you know, if I'm correct here. Do you expect this to prove impactful to your results on a sequential basis?
Yeah. I think the relevant date there is November 14, when that temporary restriction was lifted in the Swedish market. We see that as a net positive. We think that's gonna have a positive effect on our Scandinavian or particularly Swedish revenue, all things being equal. It's definitely a positive.
Okay, great. Appreciate all the color. Thank you both.
Thank you.
We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session and will now turn the call back over to Charles Gillespie for closing remarks.
Thank you to everyone for joining us today. It's a pleasure to present our business and our results of Q3 with everyone here on the call today. We look forward to updating everyone on the next quarter. Have a fantastic day.