Highlights
Financial highlights
- Streaming revenue up 35% from Q1 2021 to 699 (517) MSEK, 33% with constant exchange rates
- Group Net sales increased by 27% from Q1 2021 to 747 (588) MSEK
- Gross profit of 288 (219) MSEK
- Gross profit excluding items affecting comparability of 300 (219)
- EBITDA of -149 (-28) MSEK equaling a -19.9% (-4.8%) margin
- EBITDA excluding items affecting comparability of -33 (-28) MSEK equaling a -4.4% (-4.8%) margin
- Basic and diluted earnings per share amounted to -3.43 (-1.01) SEK
- First quarterly report post transition to function-based income statement and IFRS
Other highlights
- Jonas Tellander stepped down as CEO – replaced by Ingrid Bojner as interim CEO
- Storytel completed the acquisition of U.S. streaming service Audiobooks.com
- Storytel announced decision to implement operational pause in Russia
- An Extra General Meeting was held on February 11 at which Hans-Holger Albrecht was appointed Chair of the Board, replacing Stefan Blom who stepped down
- Claus Wamsler-Nielsen appointed COO, Åse Ericson appointed CBO Nordics and Susanne Ekblom appointed interim CFO – all joined the management team
- Storytel initiated a reorganization resulting in approximately 100 employees leaving the Company
Table 1: Key Performance Indicators
| TSEK | Q1 2021 | Q2 2021 | Q3 2021 | Q4 2021 | Q1 2022 | Q2 2022 |
| Streaming Total1 | Forecast | |||||
| Revenue | 517,075 | 545,451 | 583,084 | 605,128 | 698,599 | 698,000-705,000 |
| Gross Profit | 192,506 | 209,529 | 233,287 | 220,003 | 283,868 | |
| Gross margin | 37.2% | 38.4% | 40.0% | 36.4% | 40.6% | |
| Avg. Paying Subscribers2 | 1,540,600 | 1,626,900 | 1,724,000 | 1,784,600 | 2,051,000 | |
| ARPU | 112 | 112 | 113 | 113 | 114 | |
| Streaming Nordics1 | ||||||
| Revenue | 401,834 | 423,323 | 447,199 | 459,018 | 458,555 | 472,000-474,000 |
| Gross Profit | 151,715 | 161,457 | 179,074 | 171,791 | 165,788 | |
| Gross margin | 37.8% | 38.1% | 40.0% | 37.4% | 36.2% | |
| Avg. Paying Subscribers | 957,500 | 983,600 | 1,024,000 | 1,047,900 | 1,061,000 | |
| ARPU | 140 | 143 | 146 | 146 | 144 | |
| Streaming Non-Nordics | ||||||
| Revenue | 115,240 | 122,128 | 135,885 | 146,110 | 240,044 | 226,000-231,000 |
| Gross Profit | 40,793 | 48,073 | 54,213 | 48,212 | 118,080 | |
| Gross margin | 35.4% | 39.4% | 39.9% | 33.0% | 49.2% | |
| Avg. Paying Subscribers | 583,100 | 643,300 | 700,000 | 736,700 | 990,000 | |
| ARPU | 66 | 63 | 65 | 66 | 81 | |
| Books | ||||||
| Revenue | 125,189 | 149,962 | 180,116 | 204,316 | 149,305 | |
| Gross Profit | 65,551 | 85,866 | 119,054 | 128,737 | 84,399 | |
| Gross margin | 52.4% | 57.3% | 66.1% | 63.0% | 56.5% | |
| Group total3 | ||||||
| Revenue | 587,936 | 611,202 | 680,855 | 740,805 | 747,170 | |
| Gross Profit | 219,113 | 232,135 | 279,882 | 281,977 | 288,498 | |
| Gross margin | 37.3% | 38.0% | 41.1% | 38.1% | 38.6% |
1 Storytel Norway is included in the figures at 100%.
2 The definition of paying subscribers has been adjusted in the first quarter to include all subscribers, whereas heavily discounted subscribers were previously excluded (previously included in revenue, hence no revenue impact, adding approximately 14,300 subscribers).
3 In the consolidated accounts, Norway is reported in accordance with the equity method. As a result, the Streaming revenue listed in Table 1 is higher than in the consolidated statement of accounts in order to provide a more accurate figure for average revenue per subscriber. Please see Note 5 for additional details.
The full report can be found as an attachment.
For more information, please contact:
Andreas Lindblom, Head of Investor Relations
Tel: +46 72 506 14 22
Email: andreas.lindblom@storytel.com
Dan Panas, Head of Global Communications & PR
Tel: +46 70 186 52 90
Email: dan.panas@storytel.com
This information is such that Storytel AB (publ) is obliged to disclose in accordance with the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU nr 596/2014). The information was provided, through the agency of the above contacts, at the time stated in this press release, by Cision.
FNCA Sweden AB is the company’s certified adviser. FNCA can be reached at info@fnca.se or +46 8 528 00 399.
About Storytel
Storytel is one of the world’s largest audiobook and e-book streaming services and offers over 700,000 titles on a global scale. Our vision is to make the world a more empathetic and creative place, with great stories to be shared and enjoyed by anyone, anywhere and anytime. The streaming business within the Storytel Group is conducted under the brands Storytel, Mofibo and Audiobooks.com. The publishing business is managed by Storytel Books, and by the audiobook publisher StorySide. The Storytel Group operates in over 25 markets. The headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden.