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Acast: Year-end report 2020 – Continued high growth

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“In 2020, Acast delivered its best year to date. Together with podcast creators, advertisers and listeners we managed to demonstrate the strength of the podcast medium. Listeners continued to steadily increase throughout the year. Acast has reached over 60 million monthly active users and is now hosting over 20,000 shows globally. Advertisers continued to acknowledge the value in reaching an engaged audience which contributed to grow our operating revenues year-over-year 64% to 592 MSEK and the gross profit with 70% to 219 MSEK. We ended the year in a strong fashion by accelerating our revenue growth in Q4 to 95% year-over-year reaching 240MSEK (123MSEK). I would like to thank all my colleagues and our business partners for their fantastic efforts, together we delivered another year of high growth. I am confident that we remain well-positioned to pursue our ambition to become the global leader in the audio-on-demand market,” says Ross Adams, CEO. 

 Fourth quarter 2020

  • Operating revenues in Q4-20 reached 240MSEK (123MSEK), growing 95% compared to Q4-19, with all geographies showing strong progress
  • Gross profit grew 113% to 93MSEK (44MSEK) and gross margin improved to 39% (35%)
  • Operating loss improved by 71% to -13MSEK (-46MSEK)
  • Financial costs were impacted by FX effects taking the Q4-20 net loss to -28MSEK – representing a 43% improvement YoY

Full year 2020

  • Operating revenues for 2020 totaled 592MSEK (361MSEK), representing 64% growth YoY
  • Gross profit grew 70% to 219MSEK (129MSEK) and the gross margin for the full year was 37% (36%)
  • Operating loss at -148MSEK (-121MSEK) results in an improved loss margin at -25% (-33%)
  • Net losses for 2020 totaled -172MSEK (-129MSEK)

Market Developments

  • Listens in Q4-2020 reached 860M, growing from 800M in Q3-20
  • For the full year of 2020 total listens grew to 3Bn (1.9Bn full year of 2019)
  • Number of monthly active users has increased to over 60M, as the number of shows hosted on Acast has grown to over 20,000 globally
  • Number of advertisers investing in podcasting grew 40% in 2020. To date, Acast has worked for over 3,000 brands on ad and sponsorship campaigns
  • Employees and podcast ambassadors amount to over 250 globally, with continuous emphasis placed on Acast culture
 

For more information:

Emily Villatte, CFO
Tel: +46 76 525 0142
Email: emily.villatte@acast.com

 

About Acast

Acast is the power source of podcasting, offering everything creators and advertisers need to find and reach millions of engaged listeners around the world. We’re supercharging a thriving, profitable, fair and sustainable open ecosystem for the world’s podcasts — from those of household name media brands like the BBC, Daily Beast, the Guardian, HuffPost, the Economist, gal-dem, and the Financial Times, to shows from celebrities and influencers such as Table Manners with Jessie Ware, Wahlgren & Wistam, My Dad Wrote a Porno, JLC and Romesh Ranganathan’s Hip Hop Saved My Life, or simply anyone who wants to create. We connect podcasters, listeners and advertisers through the most innovative, world class products, tools and services, and the world’s biggest podcast marketplace. Founded in 2014, Acast now hosts 20,000 podcasts — reaching more than 300 million immersed listeners every month and working with thousands of brands. We’re For The Stories.

For brilliant podcasters
For smart advertisers
For The Stories.

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