Swedish affiliate holding Catena Media reported revenue down 1% in the second quarter to €9.5m from €9.6m a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA fell 11%, from €1.4m to €1.2m. The company carried out another round of layoffs as it moves away from an SEO-based affiliate model.
Catena's revenue has fluctuated over the past two years. It peaked in the first quarter of 2024 at €16m, then declined through year-end. The second half of 2025 brought recovery to €15.6m after headcount cuts of more than 60%. But revenue dropped to €12.3m in the first quarter of this year and in the second quarter returned to last year's low.
Personnel costs fell another 14% following layoffs last week. Those let go included senior SEO strategist Boriana Slabokova, who had worked four years at the company, and TickerTracker founder Eric Ramsey, who had nine years with the firm. Slabokova wrote on LinkedIn that recent years at Catena had been 'like a rollercoaster with broken brakes.'
CEO Manuel Stan attributed the decline to 'structural challenges in traditional affiliation tied to shifting organic search dynamics.' The company is building a technical infrastructure platform intended to bring industry players into a single ecosystem. Stan said the new model would reduce dependence on one external factor: search results. Details of the project have not been disclosed.
Catena shares dropped 30% after the earnings release. Investors are waiting for specifics on the new direction.
