Click here to watch the quarterly video with CEO Jonas Tellander and CFO Sofie Zettergren.
- Streaming sales up 43% from Q3 2018, to 399 (280) MSEK
- Subscriber base up 41% from Q3 2018 to 1,014,400 (720,900) on average
- Net turnover increased to 491 from Q3 2018, (373) MSEK
- Earnings per share, after taxes amounted to -1.37 (-1.19) SEK
- Launched in Brazil and entered Colombia from the Mexico hub
- Entered into a new long term agreement with Bonnierförlagen in Sweden
- Acquired Finland’s third largest Publishing house, Gummerus and made a share issue in conjunction with Closing
Table 1: Key performance indicators for Streaming and Print Publishing
Currency: SEK 000’s | Q3 2018 | Q4 2018 | Q1 2019 | Q2 2019 | Q3 2019 | Q4 2019 |
Streaming Total | Actual | Forecast1 | ||||
Revenue | 279,979 | 291,315 | 295,994 | 320,034 | 399,178 | 417,000 |
Contribution Profit2 | 22,063 | 30,444 | 31,372 | 29,407 | 53,043 | |
Contribution Margin | 7.9% | 10.5% | 10.6% | 9.2% | 13.3% | |
Avg. Paying Subscribers3 | 720,900 | 768,700 | 834,300 | 887,500 | 1,014,400 | 1,079,000 |
ARPU4 (SEK/Month) | 129 | 126 | 118 | 120 | 131 | 129 |
Streaming Nordics5 | ||||||
Revenue | 253,081 | 259,256 | 258,288 | 276,347 | 340,315 | 349,000 |
Contribution Profit2 | 62,327 | 82,645 | 75,329 | 70,443 | 109,563 | |
Contribution Margin | 24.6% | 31.9% | 29.2% | 25.5% | 32.2% | |
Avg. Paying Subscribers3 | 595,400 | 616,300 | 645,500 | 669,200 | 736,000 | 756,000 |
ARPU4 (SEK/Month) | 142 | 140 | 133 | 138 | 154 | 154 |
Streaming Non-Nordics | ||||||
Revenue | 26,898 | 32,059 | 37,706 | 43,687 | 58,863 | 68,000 |
Contribution Profit2 | -40,264 | -52,200 | -43,957 | -41,036 | -56,521 | |
Contribution Margin | -149.7% | -162.8% | -116.6% | -93.9% | -96.0% | |
Avg. Paying Subscribers3 | 125,500 | 152,400 | 188,800 | 218,300 | 278,400 | 323,000 |
ARPU4 (SEK/Month) | 71 | 70 | 67 | 67 | 70 | 70 |
Print Publishing6 | ||||||
Revenue | 116,252 | 170,435 | 107,316 | 109,053 | 116,371 | |
Contribution Profit7 | 40,140 | 54,681 | 32,775 | 28,830 | 33,327 | |
Contribution Margin | 34.5% | 32.1% | 30.5% | 26.4% | 28.6% |
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1 “Forecast” means an approximation based on information available at the time the report was prepared.
2 Contribution Profit is defined as streaming revenue minus royalties to third-party publishers and rights holders, in-house production costs, transaction/payment costs and marketing costs. Storytel Reader and Ztory are not included in Streaming.
3 Avg. Paying subscribers means the average number of paying Storytel subscribers during the quarter. Stand-alone customers from Ztory are not included. For Family subscriptions, each standard stream (not so-called Kids Mode) is considered one paying customer.
4 ARPU = Average Revenue Per User (Subscriber) per month.
5 Storytel Norway is included in the figures @ 100%. In the consolidated group accounts, Norway is reported in accordance with the principle of proportional consolidation.
6 Print Publishing refers to physical books and digital sales through channels other than Storytel. Internal revenue from Storytel has been eliminated. All publishing houses in Sweden and outside of Sweden are included.
7 Contribution Profit is defined as revenue minus cost per unit sold, royalties to rights holders, distribution, sales and marketing costs.
Forthcoming reports
Year-End Report 2019 – 20 Feb 2020
Annual Report 2019 – 2 April 2020
Interim Report Jan – Mar 2020 – 12 May 2020
Interim Report Jan – June 2020 – 11 Aug 2020
Interim Report Jan – Sept 2020- 10 Nov 2020
Annual General Meeting with Shareholders
The Annual General Meeting with shareholders will be held in Stockholm on 6 May 2020. More details about the time and location will be published on Storytel’s website closer to the event.
Capital Markets Day
Storytel will hold a Capital Markets Day on 14 January 2020. The event will be held at Biograf Sture at 9.00 -12.30. Pre-registration is needed.
FNCA Sweden AB is the company’s certified adviser. FNCA can be reached at info@fnca.se or +46 8 528 00 399.
Stockholm, 12 Nov 2019
Board of Directors, Storytel AB (publ)
For more information, please contact:
Jonas Tellander, CEO: +46 70 261 61 36
Sofie Zettergren, CFO: +46 70 509 98 08
Dan Panas, Head of Communications: +46 70 186 52 90
This information constitutes inside information in accordance with the EU Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014 and is such information that Storytel AB (publ) is required to disclose. The information was provided by the above contact person at the time stated in this press release by the Company’s news distributor Cision.
About Storytel
Storytel is one of the world’s leading audiobook and e-book streaming services and offers unlimited listening and reading of more than 300 000 titles on a global scale. Our vision is to make the world a more empathetic place with great stories to be shared and enjoyed by anyone, anywhere and anytime. Storytel is a digital platform provider as well as a comprehensive publishing group. The streaming business area offers subscriptions for audiobooks and e-books under the Storytel and Mofibo brands. Storytel’s publishing business area is carried out through the publishing houses Norstedts, Massolit, StorySide, Printz Publishing, People’s Press, Rabén & Sjögren, B.Wahlströms, Gummerus Kustannus and Norstedts Kartor. Ztory – a subscribed digital read-all-you-can streaming service for newspapers and magazines is part of Storytel since January 2019. Storytel operates in 18 markets around the globe and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.