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Regulatory press release

Interim Report January – March 2022

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.