Highlights
“The fourth quarter of 2022 served as a bookmark to a truly remarkable year for Storytel. We completed the transformation of our strategy, a significant restructuring of our activities and organization, and strengthened our balance sheet, and implemented our focus on profitable growth. We achieved another strong EBITDA margin in Q4 and positive EBITDA for the entire year. And, we ended 2022 as a more focused company with clear priorities on profitability and growth in our core markets, and a strong strategic commitment to expanding our content leadership and marketing capabilities” says Johannes Larcher, CEO, Storytel.”
Q4 Financial highlights
- Streaming revenue up 23% from Q4 2021 to 742 (605) MSEK, 27% excluding Russia
- Group net sales increased by 17% from Q4 2021 to 867 (741) MSEK
- Gross profit of 322 (282) MSEK, equaling a 37.2% margin (38.1%)
- EBITDA of 39 (-86) MSEK equaling a 4.4% (-11.6%) margin
- EBITDA excluding items affecting comparability of 53 (-86) MSEK equaling a 6.1% (-11.6%) margin
- Basic and diluted earnings per share amounted to -1.26 (-1.99) SEK
- Successfully completed a directed share issue and thereby raised gross proceeds of approximately 400 MSEK
Q4 Other highlights
- Kristin Widell appointed Chief People Officer
- An Extraordinary General Meeting was held on 28 November at which Tranche 2 of the directed share issue resolved by the Board of Directors on November 9 was approved
Highlights after the End of the Quarter
- The Board of Directors resolved to reschedule the Annual General Meeting to May 4, 2023. The Annual General Meeting was originally planned to be held on 2 May 2023
- Anna Etzler appointed SVP Operations
- Peter Messner appointed Chief Financial Officer, assuming role no later than August 11
Table 1: Key Performance Indicators
| TSEK | Q4 2021 | Q1 2022 | Q2 2022 | Q3 2022 | Q4 2022 |
| Streaming Total1,2 | |||||
| Revenue | 605,128 | 698,599 | 704,454 | 742,426 | 742,283 |
| Revenue excl Russia | 584,495 | 679,654 | 693,464 | 732,837 | 742,374 |
| Gross Profit | 220,003 | 283,868 | 278,554 | 307,463 | 304,594 |
| Gross margin | 36.4% | 40.6% | 39.5% | 41.4% | 41.0% |
| Avg. Paying Subscribers | 1,784,600 | 2,051,000 | 2,031,000 | 2,064,000 | 2,036,000 |
| ARPU (SEK/month) | 113 | 114 | 116 | 120 | 122 |
| Streaming Nordics1 | |||||
| Revenue | 459,018 | 458,555 | 469,390 | 492,765 | 498,336 |
| Gross Profit | 171,791 | 165,788 | 177,354 | 189,289 | 184,767 |
| Gross margin | 37.4% | 36.2% | 37.8% | 38.4% | 37.1% |
| Avg. Paying Subscribers | 1,047,900 | 1,061,000 | 1,078,000 | 1,129,000 | 1,132,000 |
| ARPU (SEK/month) | 146 | 144 | 145 | 145 | 147 |
| Streaming Non-Nordics | |||||
| Revenue | 146,110 | 240,044 | 235,064 | 249,662 | 243,947 |
| Revenue excl Russia | 125,477 | 221,099 | 224,074 | 240,073 | 244,038 |
| Gross Profit | 48,212 | 118,080 | 101,190 | 118,173 | 119,828 |
| Gross margin | 33.0% | 49.2% | 43.0% | 47.3% | 49.1% |
| Avg. Paying Subscribers | 736,700 | 990,000 | 953,000 | 935,000 | 904,000 |
| ARPU (SEK/month) | 66 | 81 | 82 | 89 | 90 |
| Books | |||||
| Revenue | 204,316 | 149,305 | 156,999 | 147,199 | 193,069 |
| Gross Profit | 128,737 | 84,399 | 78,185 | 81,916 | 85,141 |
| Gross margin | 63.0% | 56.5% | 49.8% | 55.6% | 44.1% |
| Group total2 | |||||
| Revenue | 740,805 | 747,170 | 780,730 | 805,819 | 866,663 |
| Gross Profit | 281,977 | 288,498 | 290,363 | 311,907 | 322,377 |
| Gross margin | 38.1% | 38.6% | 37.2% | 38.7% | 37.2% |
1 Storytel Norway is included in the figures @ 100%.
2 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, Senior Director Corporate Communications
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 contact persons, at the time stated in this press release, by Cision.
FNCA Sweden AB is the company’s certified adviser.
About Storytel
Storytel is one of the world’s largest audiobook and e-book streaming services and offers more than one million 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.