Asmodee Group AB Class B

Asmodee Group AB Class B

15.41
EUR
+0.09
(+0.59%)
0.20EPS
65.20P/E
3.05BMarket Cap
Nov 13Next Earn

Q3 FY2026 · Earnings Call TranscriptFebruary 19, 2026

Operator

Now I will hand the conference over to CEO Thomas Koegler and CFO Andrea Gasparini. Please go ahead.

Thomas Koegler

Good morning, and welcome to our third quarter result presentation for the fiscal year 2025/26, where I am very happy to report the strongest sale and EBITDA performance in the history of Asmodee, accompanied by a healthy free cash flow and a solid balance sheet. Looking at games published by partners, sales increased by 50.3% and were driven by successful TCG releases, including Mega Evolution Phantasmal Flames, the latest Pokémon trading card expansion.

TCGs published by Bandai also contributed to sales growth, including the continued success of One Piece and its latest set, Carrying On His Will. The launch of Magic: The Gathering Avatar: The Last Airbender this quarter was met with high player demand.

This quarter also saw the successful release of the highly anticipated TCG from the League of Legends universe, Riftbound, with Asmodee acting as leading distribution partner in Europe. Sales of game published by Asmodee studios decreased by 12.7% against an exceptionally strong performance in the same quarter last year.

The development reflects a combination of factors isolated to the US that Andrea will walk you through in more details. Important to note that games published by Asmodee studios achieved overall stable performance in Europe.

This quarter saw high profile transmedia announcements. The Werewolves of Millers Hollow unscripted game show is slated to expand to more than 10 new territories through a deal with Banijay.

Furthermore, together with Netflix, we announced an all-encompassing media partnership on the Catan franchise for upcoming scripted and unscripted content. After the quarter, we also announced a new transmedia deal with Netflix on our Ticket to Ride franchise.

During the quarter, we announced a new strategic licensing agreement between Asmodee and Middle-earth Enterprises, under which Asmodee will act as the exclusive category manager for tabletop games based on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit franchises. We aim to expand this portfolio even further, including third titles published or distributed by third-party external to Asmodee.

We also attended events such as the International Spiel game show in Essen, where Asmodee has the largest footprint, showcasing our new releases to the show's 220,000 visitors and business partners. Other notable events included Asmodee partnering with the GP Explorer in France, a leading influencer event that attracted large audiences, and our participation in Italy's leading pop culture event in Lucca, the Lucca Games and Comics Festival, and our presence in the UK at Alton Towers.

We continued to execute our M&A strategy, actively sourcing new opportunities. During the quarter, we closed the acquisition of the Cthulhu: Death May Die IP and games.

After the end of the quarter, we also completed the bolt-on acquisition of the Sheriff of Nottingham IP that is further strengthening our portfolio of intellectual properties. Moving on to the highlights of the third quarter, where net sales reached above €520 million, representing organic year-on-year growth of 25.6%.

This was, as I said, mainly driven by the European market, primarily supported by the continued success of trading card games as just described. The adjusted EBITDA grew by 28%, driven by the strong sales growth, and the adjusted EBITDA margin increased by 100 basis points to 21.8%, supported by disciplined cost control, bringing our year-to-date margin in line with prior year.

The free cash flow was healthy, with a free cash conversion at 67%, and our net debt on EBITDA ratio came in at 1.9 times, in line with our medium-term target of below 2 times. During the quarter, we also successfully refinanced our €320 million floating rate bonds, thereby lowering our interest expenses by around €5 million annually and strengthening our debt profile.

With these words, I will now hand over to our CFO, Andrea Gasparini.

Andrea Gasparini

Thank you, Thomas, and good morning, everyone. Let's now take a look into sales for the third quarter, where net sales reached €524 million, a year-on-year increase of 22.2%.

On an organic basis, sales grew by 25.6%. Structural changes relating to the divestment of Twin Sails Interactive had an effect of -0.5%, and the impact of changes in exchange rates was -3%.

Breaking down sales by publisher, reported sales of Asmodee published games decreased by 12.7%, games published by partners increased by 50.3%, and the other category declined by -8.5%, impacted by the disposal of Twin Sails Interactive. The strong performance in games published by partners was driven by continued successful TCG releases, as already noted by Thomas, primarily across Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, and One Piece.

As discussed during our Q2 report, there is a timing effect between Q2 and Q3 related to Pokémon Mega Evolution launch of approximately €10 to €15 million, which had a negative impact in Q2 and the corresponding positive impact in Q3. The development in games published by Asmodee is mainly coming from the US due to three factors.

The US market dynamics. The underlying US board game market, as measured by mass market and online sell-out data, remained stable during the quarter.

Asmodee sell-out performance was in line with the market in Q3, following outperformance in Q1 and Q2. Therefore, on a year-to-date basis, Asmodee continues to outperform the market.

Quarterly fluctuations reflect a normal volatility in sell-in, which is influenced by retail inventory levels. Second impact is the FX.

This is due to the unfavorable US exchange rate exposure since the beginning of the year. The third reason is related to Star Wars: Unlimited normalization.

As you remember, strong prior year comparison due to the launch of Star Wars: Unlimited compared to last year. Now the performance is normalizing, as can be expected from this type of product, because we are now in the second year of the life cycle of this TCG.

From a category point of view, the split of sales TCG versus board games, the board games performance was partially mitigated by good dynamics in games published by partners, such as Hitster from Jumbo Group. Looking at the year-to-date development, net sales reached €1,276 million, a year-over-year increase of 24.3%.

On an organic basis, sales grew by 27%, as a result of our diversified product catalog and geographical footprint underpinning another strong sales year. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 28% in the third quarter, reaching €114.5 million, compared to €89.3 million last year, paving the way for a year of strong profits.

The increase reflect a combination of factors: higher volumes supported by solid sales momentum, disciplined cost management, with personnel costs increasing by only €3.5 million due to high activity, well below our top line growth, and other operating expenses were flat year-on-year, as continued investment in marketing were fully offset by lower other operating expenses. From a profitability point of view, the adjusted EBITDA margin increased by 100 basis points to 21.8%, supported by the stronger cost control.

Note that below the EBITDA line, as part of the refinancing, we recorded an impact of -€5.7 million related to the write-down of implementation cost for the previous bond, with the cost for the new bond of around €5 million being capitalized. The outcome of the year-to-date performance clearly demonstrated the scalability and efficiency of our business model, able to convert growth into profit, and to reach margin in line with last year, a solid achievement considering the unfavorable sales mix impact observed during the last three to four quarters.

Moving on to cash flow, free cash flow after income tax and capitalized lease payment amounted to €76.5 million in the quarter, compared to €71.8 million last year. This corresponds to a free cash flow conversion of 76% versus 80% a year ago, due to the build-up of strategic inventories and higher tax paid thanks to increase in profits.

Looking more closely at the working capital movement, inventories decreased by €55 million, in line with seasonality after our high activity period in Q3. In terms of inventory quality, we have bought and still continue to hold the strategic inventory position of distributed TCGs that have turned into sales shortly after the end of Q3, as well as some higher than expected position of long sellers board games that will generate sales in the short to medium term.

Overall, the inventory levels remains under strict control, with inventory as a percentage of the last 12 months sales going from 17% down to 15.3% year-over-year. Receivables increased by €45.6 million, compared to €39.6 million last year.

This is mainly driven by higher sales. Despite this natural increase, the ratio as a percentage of sales improves, and this reflect our continued focus on cash collection.

On payables, which decreased by €29 million, compared to an increase of €2.1 million last year. Last year payables, just as a reminder, were favorably impacted by items affecting comparability related to the listing process of around €20 million.

Furthermore, the less favorable movement compared to last year primarily reflect the strong growth in the TCG category, which at current sales level leads to a different cash flow pattern than historically due to standard credit limits. The cash flow from operating activities was also impacted by higher income tax paid of €19 million versus €6.4 million last year.

This is driven by higher profit before tax last year, which increases the tax payment in the current fiscal year. This explained the majority of the growth, as well as strong activity this year in certain jurisdictions requiring an upward adjustment of current year tax prepayment to avoid unfavorable catch-up effect during the next fiscal year.

CapEx for the quarter of €7.2 million, representing 1.4% of sales, in line with our CapEx-light business model. The year-to-date free cash flow after tax and capitalized lease payment is €78 million, resulting in a free cash flow conversion of 34%.

Our call option to acquire the remaining 45% minority stake in Exploding Kittens was exercised during the quarter, with the closing and cash-out expected during the first half of the calendar 2026 year. To conclude, the strong P&L performance delivered during the third quarter is expected to translate into further cash generation in the fourth quarter, in line with the seasonality of the business.

Then moving to our healthy balance sheet and capital structure, both leverage ratios before and after M&A commitment are improving and going below 2 times, in line with our medium target, thanks to the positive development of both the adjusted EBITDA and cash generation, the latter reaching €322 million in Q3, compared to €258 million in Q2. I'm also very pleased that during the quarter, we successfully refinanced €320 million floating rate bonds, extending maturity from 2029 to 2031, and moving to a fixed rate.

The refinancing lowers our interest cost by around €5 million per year, improves visibility on future expenses, and strengthen our debt maturity profile. In terms of credit rating, during the quarter, Fitch and S&P confirmed their BB- rating, while Moody's upgraded to B1 with a positive outlook.

In addition, we still have access to the unutilized revolving credit facility of €150 million. With that, I'll hand it back to Thomas.

Thomas Koegler

Thank you, Andrea. Before we open up for questions, I would like to make some concluding remarks.

As you have seen, this was a record quarter for Asmodee, with sales and EBITDA at historically high levels. The solid performance, as we said, was driven by the European market, supported by strong trading card games.

The development seen in games published by Asmodee was mainly isolated to the US. The strong sales growth, combined with the cost control, drove an increase in adjusted EBITDA and our margins, bringing year-to-date margins in line with last year, a solid achievement considering the unfavorable sales mix impacted observed during the last quarters.

On top of that, we recorded a healthy free cash flow, and we have a net debt on EBITDA at 1.9 times, in line with our medium-term target of below 2 times, with, as Andrea mentioned, an improved credit profile. Looking forward, the strong P&L performance this past quarter is expected to translate into further cash generation in Q4, in line with the seasonality of our business.

We're actively sourcing new M&A opportunities, some are delivering with the new bolt-on acquisitions of Cthulhu: Death May Die and Sheriff of Nottingham, and the remaining stake in Exploding Kittens soon to be acquired. This past quarter demonstrates the strength of our business model and our ability to capture opportunities as they arise.

Supported by strong underlying trends in TCGs, the current market environment reinforces my confidence that our diversified portfolio positions us to deliver continued growth. With that, I will now open up the floor for questions.

Operator

If you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key six on your telephone keypad.

The next question comes from Adrian Elmlund from Nordea. Please go ahead.

Adrian Elmlund

Hi, guys, and good morning. A couple of questions for me, please.

First off, could we have any further guidance here on the planned personnel investments? Kind of what numbers are we talking about, and how much of these sort of margin improvements that we saw here during the quarter is reflected in this timing effects, I guess, in the quarter of personnel?

Andrea Gasparini

Personnel expense, we do not provide precise guidance on a cost base line, just as to remember. Directionally speaking, as you've seen during the current fiscal year, personnel expense was mainly focused and triggered by our strong top line growth.

These are types of personnel costs that we'll keep on investing on to deliver sustainable growth in the future. It is also true that some of those personnel costs increase during this year were driven by the fact that we upscaled some corporate functions in the context of Asmodee being a listed company, etc.

On this one, we will see more moderate growth going forward.

Adrian Elmlund

Right. I guess that there's not a major deviation here that we should not extrapolate, I guess, the margin improvement, I guess.

Andrea Gasparini

No.

Adrian Elmlund

No. Right.

Okay. Another question.

We're also meeting some tougher comps here in trading card games, I guess, beginning of next quarter. Do you expect to continue to drive, I guess, year-over-year growth in this category?

Given, I guess, the continued strong momentum in trading cards that we've seen as of recent this quarter as well, and Pokémon's 30th anniversary coming up as well.

Thomas Koegler

We look at trading cards in the category overall. The category is extremely dynamic.

We have some positive outlooks, let's call it that way. We have the 30th anniversary effectively of Pokémon coming out.

I think everybody saw the Super Bowl commercial, which is a statement to the power of the franchise and how it engages. This is quite exciting for the upcoming year.

You have a lot of other TCGs that have very good dynamics. We see continued performance on One Piece.

Magic has shown good performance. You have the recent release of Riftbound.

I would say that overall, the category, as I did mention in the report, puts us with positive expectations for the future. Yes, there are a bit tougher comparables, but we see ourselves, given the diversification of our portfolio and our ability to distribute all TCGs, but also have good dynamics on games, to continue deliver growth.

Adrian Elmlund

Perfect. Moving, I guess, to the board game category, could you provide us, I guess, with a pipeline here, how confident are you in your own studios' ability to return to growth when we see some tougher TCG comps here?

Thomas Koegler

There are a few elements here. As we did mention, yes, we had some negative developments on the games.

If you look at the sell-out, which is the sales to consumers, in the US, for instance, the market was relatively flat, and our sell-out was in line with this, which means that we still have positive outlooks for the future. Our performance was impacted especially by I would say some inventory positions and retailers' purchase strategies.

Now if we look forward, first of all, the vast majority of our revenue is coming from existing titles. That's the first thing that's important.

We're constantly working on engaging consumers on those. You saw the recent announcements on Catan and Ticket to Ride with Netflix, all of this with the objective to further increase brand awareness and visibility, and in the future, generate additional sales.

If we look at some of the products we're looking forward to in terms of new releases for next year, we have announced the new LEGO game in the NINJAGO franchise being released the same time as the NINJAGO anniversary. We have Azul Kids coming out.

We have Din'Up. We have the future sets of Star Wars: Unlimited.

We have a refresh of Ticket to Ride: Europe. I would say that it will be still an active year.

What's important, if you look back at the historical performance of Asmodee, is that some years, it's strongly driven by trading cards. In the other years, usually when trading cards are less strong, you have a relay that's coming from board games.

Adrian Elmlund

Perfect. Last question here, if I may.

Regarding the TCG distribution in the US, could you give us any comments on, I guess, how Riftbound might have performed from your perspective in the US here versus Europe, pertaining the kind of how you build your distribution in the US?

Thomas Koegler

In the US, we are for Riftbound a minor distributor, in opposition to Europe, where we are the major distributor. We have all seen that I think the launch was successful, and that everybody agrees to the fact that there was not enough product to serve the entirety of the market.

The second set just released. We will see how this product installs itself in the medium term.

Adrian Elmlund

Perfect. Thank you very much.

I'll get back into the queue.

Thomas Koegler

Thanks, Adrian.

Operator

The next question comes from Simon Jönsson from ABG Sundal Collier. Please go ahead.

Simon Jönsson

Good morning, everyone, and thanks for taking my questions. I want to focus a bit more on the board games where sales were down year-over-year, and it sounds like it's mainly coming from headwinds in the US.

Can you talk a bit more about what has changed in the US recently, if anything? You mentioned the bigger retailers.

You commented also a few quarters ago that there were some inventory problem with the online retailers, and now it sounds like maybe similar problem, but with the larger retailers. Is there something broader going on here, or just a few different factors, or what do you say about that?

Thomas Koegler

I think it's what you mentioned, which is a few different factors. Let's remember also that the beginning of the year has been quite shaken up in everybody's supply strategies, ours, the retailers', by the various announcements on the tariffs.

I think that it has been a constantly evolving situation where I'm quite proud of how the teams reacted. Once we've said that, of course, let's not underestimate the impact of foreign exchange, which is quite material in the decrease.

Secondly, what's important to look at beyond our own sell-in performance, which is what we sell to retailers, is the sell-out. As I did say, we have since the beginning of the year outperformed the market, and even in the third quarter, it was a quarter for the Christmas period that was very much focused on lower price point products.

We captured very strong growth with Exploding Kittens, and did have some headwinds on higher price point products. I would say in the grand scheme of things, first of all, it's fine.

Our portfolio is diversified. Secondly, it's limited to the US, we should expect some better trends in the future.

Simon Jönsson

All right, but if we stay a bit on the inventory problem and go back to what you said on I think it was Q1, talking about the online retailers after the tariff announcements and so on, has that problem sort of got resolved, and this is then a new temporary problem, or do you think that they're tied together in some way and that there's still an overarching inventory problem situation in the US that could be going on here for next quarters as well?

Andrea Gasparini

Hi, Simon. No, if I can complement what Thomas just said, I think that the sell-in reflect the fact that retailers continue to carry inventory, and they are prioritizing working through their existing stock.

We are therefore aligning our shipment with current inventory position at retail. Their inventory level remained manageable, even though in some cases they are slightly above historical levels following the market trends.

This is why, as a result, we are adjusting our sell-in where appropriate, including being more selective on shipments to certain partner because we want to support a healthy flow of inventories within the whole value chain. We are working closely with them, with our retail partners, to ensure that the inventory level across the channel remain balanced and healthy.

Simon Jönsson

All right, but do you think that those inventory levels are sort of approaching a more normal level?

Andrea Gasparini

Yes, they are going back to more normal levels.

Simon Jönsson

All right. Thanks for that.

Then turning a bit to board games in Europe then, which looks more stable, growing a bit, what level of market growth would you say you're seeing right now in Europe for board games specifically? Are we talking mid single digits or high single digits rates or something like that?

Do you think that that could or will continue during this year?

Thomas Koegler

No, I think it's more in line with your first assumption, which is low to mid single digit. After that, what we see also is that there is a bit of competition at retail level between especially on cash allocation in hobby between trading cards and board games.

As we did say, when you have one category that is extremely strong, the other one has a bit of headwinds. For us, it's okay because we look at the group holistically, and all categories, that's what drives the growth.

Simon Jönsson

All right, naturally, if we see a stabilization in the trading cards growth, would that mean that there's big opportunities for higher growth in board games then?

Thomas Koegler

In the past, it's what we've seen. Again, it's not fully mechanical, but yes.

Simon Jönsson

All right. Then just the last one from me on M&A, and you continue to do a few smaller bolt-ons, but where would you say that you are right now in terms of building the pipeline of maybe a bit more meaningful targets, and do you feel more comfortable now when you have a gearing below 2 times?

Thomas Koegler

Without being specific, the activity in the pipeline is in accordance with our plan. The smaller acquisitions are faster, IP acquisitions and asset deals are faster to execute.

I'm satisfied.

Simon Jönsson

Okay. Sounds good.

Thanks, that's all for me.

Thomas Koegler

Thanks, Simon. Thank you.

Operator

The next question comes from Nicolas Langlet from BNP Paribas. Please go ahead.

Nicolas Langlet

Hello, Thomas. Hello, Andrea.

I've got three questions, please. On the US market, it was mostly stable in Q4.

Are you seeing any improvement in the consumer behavior heading into the calendar Q1? You also said that you work closely with your US team and partners to adapt to the market evolution.

What are the main initiative you are planning for the US market? Secondly, on Star Wars: Unlimited, can you comment on the sell-out trend during the quarter, and if there are any specific initiative to support the game over the next few months?

Lastly, on cash return, you should end the year below the 2 times net debt EBITDA. Could you consider start paying a dividend on full year '26 results?

Thank you.

Thomas Koegler

Thanks, Nicolas, for your questions. On what we do in the US, we'll continue to serve the market on the products that sell well, especially the lower price point ones, leveraging Exploding Kittens, which also I would say reinforces the appeal for us acquiring the remaining 45% of Exploding Kittens.

In parallel, of course, on the other product lines, we're actively working on commercial deals and commercial actions to have a more positive trend, let's call it that way, on those. They have seen very strong growth in the past years, you see ups and downs.

It's not unheard of. Clearly, yes, it's mainly sales and marketing actions from the local team to adapt, and also to adapt to, as we did say, the purchasing strategies from the retailers.

Both working on the consumer side, but also on the retailer side. If we talk about Star Wars: Unlimited, as we did say, first of all, we look at the TCG category overall.

That's the model. Right now it's the distributed TCGs that see the strongest growth.

On Unlimited specifically, same time last year, as I did mention, we had reprints of set one and set two. We had very high demand for set three.

We see some more stable figures amongst the past three three latest releases. Then, of course, one should not underestimate how the category is competitive, with some big brands having been released.

We did mention Riftbound. What we do is that we try to continue doing our best in supporting the game, having great sets, having great content in the sets, having strong activation and organized play.

Here, the idea is to continue build and give it time. Finally, on your last question, as you did note, our debt ratio on adjusted EBITDA is effectively below our target of 2 times.

It would be reasonable to accept for the board, because it's the board's recommendation, that they would provide their recommendation in terms of excess cash allocation as part of our Q4 report.

Nicolas Langlet

Perfect. Thank you very much.

Operator

The next question comes from Jacob Edler from Danske Bank. Please go ahead.

Jacob Edler

Hi, Thomas, and hi, Andrea, and thanks for taking my questions. I think most of my questions have already been answered.

Just a question here on the gross margin. I obviously understand the mix attributes in the quarter.

Maybe more specifically, presumably, if we listen to Hasbro's numbers and also what you said in the report, obviously Magic and specifically Avatar was very strong in the quarter. Was that also one element pushing the gross margin down a bit further?

Then secondly, was there any elements of more discounting for your, let's call it, board games, that also affected the margin this year relative to last year?

Andrea Gasparini

I think both statements are fair. There is sales mix within the various categories based on various commercial agreement and margin.

Then Q3, and this is something that could also pursue in Q4, as these are normal course of business, as well as some provisions, normal course of business, that are booked in Q3 and Q4 based on how the activities is unfolding in the P&L. This is really a normal course of business for Asmodee, as has always been in the past and will continue, yes, in the future in terms of seasonality.

Yeah.

Jacob Edler

Very good. Just a follow-up, I guess, on gross margins.

Obviously there will be releases that affect the mix within distribution between different quarters. Given the continued momentum in One Piece and also the launch of Riftbound, would you say that these products are contributing, underlying, to the mix here within distribution as we look ahead?

Andrea Gasparini

Yes, these are product that have no major impact neither positively or negatively compared to the rest of the category, let's call it that way.

Jacob Edler

Okay. Good.

Just a last question on my side. These deals you've signed with Netflix for Catan and here recently for Ticket to Ride, I understand that I guess the main upside is to drive engagement for the physical products.

Maybe there are some royalty elements in it as well. Are there any upfront components, you receiving some cash from Netflix when you've signed these deals, or how should we think about it?

Thomas Koegler

We do not disclose the details of the deals. Very clearly, the main objective for us is not in the direct cash or direct revenue that we get from those.

It's really the brand exposure and the ability for consumers to enjoy their favorite brands in various ways of entertainment.

Jacob Edler

Very good. Thank you for answering my questions.

Thomas Koegler

Thanks, Jacob.

Andrea Gasparini

Thank you.

Operator

The next question comes from Erik Larsson from SEB. Please go ahead.

Erik Larsson

Hi, and good morning. I just have one question, which is more high level.

Seeing your numbers, looking at peers, it's quite obvious that the TCG space or rather hobby space in general, the spend continues to do quite well. Could you give any insights to what extent this is driven by existing hobby players, new players?

Is it the mass market coming in more? Just any color there would be interesting.

Thomas Koegler

It's a mix of all of this. I think that first of all, it's linked to the high quality of the products that are available or are being released on the market.

The work that is being done by The Pokémon Company, by Hasbro, Wizards on Magic, by Riot and their partners on Riftbound, by us on Unlimited, by Bandai on their own TCGs, I would say that the quality of the products is extremely high. The franchises also have a very strong appeal to various audiences.

That's something that's quite interesting is that it brings new players, fans of the respective franchises in the universe. Then lastly, I think that there is pleasure from players in the collectibility of those products beyond the gameplay.

Of course, there you have also very significant part of people that enjoy those to play, but that varies from game to game. It's a mix of all of this.

The one thing that one can say is that more and more people enjoy trading cards.

Erik Larsson

That's interesting. Thank you.

Thomas Koegler

Thanks, Erik.

Operator

The next question comes from Martin Arnell from DNB Carnegie. Please go ahead.

Martin Arnell

Good morning, guys. I have a question on if you could talk a little bit about upcoming sets and expansion that you plan for 2026, and timing for it.

Also, if you could comment anything on what do you expect in terms of effects from events by Pokémon in relation to the 30-year anniversary? Any clarity on the timing for this launch that could impact your TCG sales?

Thomas Koegler

Yes. Hi, Martin.

As you've seen, The Pokémon Company has launched the 30th anniversary. They will detail what will happen at the upcoming Pokémon Days later in the month.

I would say it's their remit to announce things, not ours. I will ask you to be a bit patient, and you will get some answers there.

What we have seen is quite exciting. If we look at what they've done in the past, it was quite amazing.

The Super Bowl ad was very strong. Consumer response or mentions online were also very very strong.

The rest of the TCG category, everybody is lined up with their own releases, this should unfold without any major surprises in the upcoming quarters. Finally, as I did say, we have some nice games coming up either in Q4 and in the upcoming quarters, Q4 looking forward to the one we did have.

I forgot to mention that, but it's outside the quarter, also some good nominations at the As d'Or in France, both for Toy Battle and for Take Time, which are two recent releases. It's good perspectives for the future.

Martin Arnell

On your comment in the report there about that you think you're positioned to deliver continued growth, do you expect that your events and the growth initiatives will be enough to bring tabletop back to growth in your next fiscal year?

Thomas Koegler

Our ambition is to bring those to growth in the long to medium future. I will not give guidance on the upcoming year, but it would be logical that it is one of our main focus of the upcoming months.

Martin Arnell

Thanks. My final question, maybe to Andrea, could you repeat the comments that you made on cash flow in the period after Q3 about receivables, etc.?

Andrea Gasparini

Sorry, what's the question then?

Martin Arnell

I think in your presentation, you commented on the cash flow so far in Q4, if I recall. Could you repeat what you said, because I couldn't really hear it?

Andrea Gasparini

No, I think that the P&L in Q3 is encouraging with respect to the free cash flow generation of the company currently and on the year-to-go, on the remaining quarter of the current fiscal year. We see the free cash flow generation again following the normal seasonality of the business.

I have highlighted the specific factors that have impacted the current fiscal year with respect to inventories and payables that are a little bit more specific to what's going on right now. For the rest is, again, free cash flow generation as usual.

Martin Arnell

Should we sort of see the historical patterns for the second half to be sort of similar this year? With the start of Q3, it looks similar to the past, and it's fair to assume a similar to the historical numbers also in Q4, right, in terms of seasonality patterns?

Andrea Gasparini

Yes, last year Q4 free cash flow generation was was was really really high with the TCG the distributed TCG business started to re-kick in in with strong dynamics during during Q4. If I remember, but we communicated about an extremely exceptionally strong Q4 free cash flow generation last year.

Just please remember remember that. Then the the Q3 free cash flow generation plus the the the year-to-go the year-to-date position ourselves to to generate once again strong free cash flow in terms of conversion ratio, not as strong as last year because of this exceptional Q4 that we benefited from during the last fiscal year.

Martin Arnell

Perfect. Thank you.

That's all for me.

Thomas Koegler

Thanks, Martin.

Andrea Gasparini

Thanks, Martin.

Operator

The next question comes from Ricardo Chinchilla from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Ricardo Chinchilla

Hey, good morning. Thank you so much for taking my questions.

Most of my questions have already been answered, but I was hoping if you could touch upon your capital allocation priorities, given that your leverage is now mostly below your long-term target level. Do you anticipate more aggressive M&A?

Do you anticipate increasing shareholder returns? Do you anticipate paying even additional more debt?

Any color that would be very appreciated. On the M&A side, are there any opportunities or not specific companies, but any sector or any type of business that you feel that would complement your business from an M&A perspective?

Thank you.

Thomas Koegler

Yes, thanks for the very good question. If you look at the capital allocation, what we look forward to, there is the remaining 45% of Exploding Kittens to be acquired, that will mobilize some cash.

Adding on top of that, as we did say, our M&A engine is nicely running up. I will not comment on specific ongoing projects.

As I did say, I'm satisfied with what we have in the workings. What we're looking for, as you asked, is in priority studios and intellectual properties, because we already have a very strong distribution reach.

Then maybe to complement some distribution reach here and there, depending on the strategic advantages this would provide us in specific territories. Again, I think the priority is on IPs and creative capabilities, which is what we have been delivering up until now.

Ricardo Chinchilla

Perfect. If I may follow up, is there any particular leverage level that you consider the max leverage for this portfolio in case that there is any opportunistic M&A opportunity or is there any project that could result into higher leverage, just from knowledge perspective on what would be the maximum amount of leverage that this company could handle?

Thomas Koegler

I will not provide one figure, but if you look back, we've operated for many years under private equity. The types of leverages that can exist under there, and it hasn't prevented us from thriving.

I think that we can afford higher levels of leverage. Of course, now being listed, we prefer to remain around the levels that we have today.

We could consider temporarily in order to finance some significant opportunities. Let's see.

Again, this is elements on which we will strategize with the board once the opportunities arise.

Ricardo Chinchilla

Appreciate all the great answers. Thank you so much.

Thomas Koegler

Thanks a lot.

Operator

The next question comes from Rasmus Engberg from Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead.

Rasmus Engberg

Hi, good morning, Thomas and Andrea. Just two questions remain on my side.

Firstly, I have the feeling that what you have done in terms of M&A is not kind of your typical M&A. It's small deals.

The fact that nothing kind of larger has happened, are there any explanations in terms of pricing or timing or the fact that you wanted to sort out Exploding Kittens, or is it just it takes two to tango?

Thomas Koegler

As I did say, the smaller IP deals are faster to execute. It's a question of timing.

Yes, we do have Exploding Kittens in parallel, but this was planned for quite some time. As I did say, it's a question of timing.

Any more significant deals will unfold in due time.

Rasmus Engberg

All right. The other thing, you talk a lot about the US, which is by and large a fairly small part of your business.

What does sell-in look like in Europe, which has been your sort of growth engine for some time? Can you comment on that?

Thomas Koegler

The sell-in has been stable on the games side, and obviously strongly increasing on the TCG side.

Rasmus Engberg

Thanks.

Operator

There are no more questions at this time. I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions and closing comments.

Thomas Koegler

Yes, we have a few written questions. We have a question from Robert on effectively the US and acknowledging the tough comparables that we had seen.

You're asking what caused this number last year. Last year was the release of Star Wars: Unlimited, was very strong dynamics on our existing brands.

In the more recent quarter, I would say it's a normalization of this, and some lower sell-in, but again, whilst the sell-out remained stable. We have a second question, which is on the long-term trends of TCGs over the next five years.

Of course, there is no way of foreseeing the future. However, what we see is that overall, the category is very strong, that strong IPs are either existing or have been announced to be released in TCGs.

Here, very clearly, Asmodee, we are well positioned as a leading distributor in Europe. If we have a look at external market studies, they were expecting normalized or long-term growth of around mid single digit or up to mid single digit.

Again, we know that the TCGs can, at some years, grow faster, and in some years, slightly recede, but the long-term trends remain normally very strong. We have a question from Erik, "How competitive is the publishing landscape for new TCGs, such as Riftbound, and are you relatively leading position in any other regions than Europe in terms of distribution?"

I would say the TCGs find their audiences, and then it comes down to how well the work is done in first working with stores, and secondly, in the community animation, and of course, the quality of the products that are released. I think Riftbound came in with a very strong IP, and we will see.

It's just one full set and the beginning of the second set that have been brought to market. Our position, of course, is quite unique in Europe.

Elsewhere, we also start distributing TCGs in South America, in Asia, and a bit in the US also. It's not really material at this stage to be a distributor in the US.

"Can you share any insights on the upcoming digital Star Wars collectible card game, and what's your view on this, and could it potentially impact the player base within Star Wars: Unlimited?" I don't have specific views on that game.

However, if we look at other TCGs, when there is a digital version, usually it does not harm the sale of physical products. That's what we've seen with digital versions of Pokémon or other TCGs.

I do not foresee it being a bad news. The last question from Alex, "Is there any plan for starting dividends?"

As I did mention, it's a prerogative to the board that will bring their recommendation as part of the Q4 results, our full year results to be then submitted to our AGM. That's it for us.

Maybe as a final concluding remark, I would like to thank our teams, because delivering such growth comes with a very, very high engagement of our teams. Like also to thank our partners that continuously renew their confidence in us.

Finally, as I did say, the numbers speak for themselves, and this quarter is a very strong illustration of the strength of Asmodee's unique model in our industry. Thank you very much, everybody.

Andrea Gasparini

Thank you very much.