Helsinki — Rovio Entertainment said its profitability improved in the first quarter after the Angry Birds game maker spent less on winning over users for its games and saw cost efficiencies in brand licensing. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) grew 43% to €14.6m. The earnings margin rose to 22.2% of sales, up from 15.4% a year ago. The stock had risen 5.5% at 10.46am in Helsinki. The company warned that in the short term, profitability was likely to decline as its spending on gaining users would take a longer time to generate positive returns. It may take as long as 12 months to pay back its investments in user acquisition from a previous estimate of up to 10 months, Rovio said. "This may have a negative profitability effect in the short term," CEO Kati Levoranta said in the company’s earnings report on Thursday. "The cost for digital marketing in the industry continued to be high." Even with a possible short-term hit to profitability, Ro...
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