Interim Report January - March 2019: Storytel AB (publ)
Click here to watch the quarterly video with CEO Jonas Tellander and CFO Sofie Zettergren. For full report, see attached pdf.
- Streaming sales up 33% Y/Y to 296 (222) MSEK
- Subscriber base up 44% Y/Y to 834,300 (577,900) on average
- Net turnover increased to 385,016 (312,163) TSEK
- Earning per share, after taxes amounted to -1.60 (-1.00) SEK
- Storytel launched its sixteenth market, Singapore
- Acquired Ztory, a streaming service for newspapers and magazines
Table 11: Key performance indicators for Streaming and Print Publishing -
starting in the next quarter the segmentation will change to that of Table 2
| Currency: SEK 000’s | Q1 2018 | Q2 2018 | Q3 2018 | Q4 2018 | Q1 2019 |
| Streaming Total | |||||
| Revenue | 222,133 | 239,139 | 279,979 | 291,315 | 295,994 |
| Contribution Profit2 | 24,079 | 25,045 | 22,063 | 30,444 | 31,372 |
| Contribution Margin | 10.8% | 10.5% | 7.9% | 10.5% | 10.6% |
| Paying Subscribers | 577,900 | 621,200 | 720,900 | 768,700 | 834,300 |
| ARPU3 (SEK/Month) | 128 | 128 | 129 | 126 | 118 |
| Streaming Sweden | |||||
| Revenue | 122,046 | 125,759 | 135,986 | 139,977 | 136,861 |
| Contribution Profit2 | 43,067 | 35,763 | 40,888 | 49,190 | 44,797 |
| Contribution Margin | 35.3% | 28.4% | 30.1% | 35.1% | 32.7% |
| Paying Subscribers | 305,100 | 314,700 | 336,200 | 345,200 | 363,200 |
| ARPU3 (SEK/Month) | 133 | 133 | 135 | 135 | 126 |
| Streaming International4 | |||||
| Revenue | 100,087 | 113,380 | 143,993 | 151,338 | 159,133 |
| Contribution Profit2 | -18,988 | -10,718 | -18,826 | -18,746 | -13,425 |
| Contribution Margin | -19.0% | -9.5% | -13.1% | -12.4% | -8.4% |
| Paying Subscribers | 272,800 | 306,500 | 384,700 | 423,500 | 471,100 |
| ARPU3 (SEK/Month) | 122 | 123 | 125 | 119 | 113 |
| Print Publishing5 | |||||
| Revenue | 106,312 | 115,898 | 116,252 | 170,435 | 107,316 |
| Contribution Profit6 | 39,223 | 41,889 | 40,140 | 54,681 | 32,775 |
| Contribution Margin | 36.9% | 36.1% | 34.5% | 32.1% | 30.5% |
_____________________________
1 Starting in Q2 2019, a new segmentation will be implemented where reported key performance indicators for Streaming will be grouped into Nordics and Non-Nordic countries.
2 Contribution Profit is defined as streaming revenue minus content costs (royalty for licensed content, in-house productions and royalty to rightsholder), transactions costs and marketing. Storytel Reader or Ztory is not included in Streaming.
3 ARPU = Average Revenue Per User (Subscriber) per month. In Q1 2019, Storytel released a Family subscription in the Nordic markets and ran a discounted campaign, which lowered ARPU. Fewer days in Q1 (90) and growth in low priced markets also contributed to the lower ARPU.
4 Storytel Norway is included in figures @ 100%. In the consolidated group accounts, Norway is reported in accordance with the principle of proportional consolidation.
5 Print Publishing refers to physical books and digital sales through channels other than Storytel. Internal revenues from Storytel have been eliminated. All publishing houses in Sweden and outside of Sweden are included.
6 Contribution Profit is defined as revenue minus cost per sold unit, royalties to rights holders, distribution, sales and marketing costs.
Table 2: Key performance indicators for Streaming and Print Publishing - new segmentation.
Starting with the Jan-June 2019 interim report, the following table will replace Table 1
| Currency: SEK 000´s | Q1 2018 | Q2 2018 | Q3 2018 | Q4 2018 | Q1 2019 | Q2 2019 |
| Streaming Total | Forecast1 | |||||
| Revenue | 222,133 | 239,139 | 279,979 | 291,315 | 295 994 | 313,000 |
| Contribution Profit2 | 24,079 | 25,045 | 22,063 | 30,444 | 31 372 | |
| Contribution Margin | 10.8% | 10.5% | 7.9% | 10.5% | 10,6% | |
| Paying Subscribers | 577,900 | 621,200 | 720,900 | 768,700 | 834,300 | 880,000 |
| ARPU3 (SEK/Month) | 128 | 128 | 129 | 126 | 118 | 119 |
| Streaming Nordics4 | ||||||
| Revenue | 205,987 | 218,714 | 253,081 | 259,256 | 258,288 | 270,000 |
| Contribution Profit2 | 56,584 | 57,986 | 62,327 | 82,645 | 75,329 | |
| Contribution Margin | 27.5% | 26.5% | 24.6% | 31.9% | 29.2% | |
| Paying Subscribers | 503,200 | 530,200 | 595,400 | 616,300 | 645,500 | 660,000 |
| ARPU3 (SEK/Month) | 136 | 138 | 142 | 140 | 133 | 136 |
| Streaming Non-Nordics | ||||||
| Revenue | 16,146 | 20,424 | 26,898 | 32,059 | 37,706 | 43,000 |
| Contribution Profit2 | −32,505 | −32,941 | −40,264 | −52,200 | −43,957 | |
| Contribution Margin | −201.3% | −161.3% | −149.7% | −162.8% | −116.6% | |
| Paying Subscribers | 74,700 | 91,000 | 125,500 | 152,400 | 188,800 | 220,000 |
| ARPU3 (SEK/Month) | 72 | 75 | 71 | 70 | 67 | 65 |
| Print Publishing5 | ||||||
| Revenue | 106,312 | 115,898 | 116,252 | 170,435 | 107,316 | |
| Contribution Profit6 | 39,223 | 41,889 | 40,140 | 54,681 | 32,775 | |
| Contribution Margin | 36.9% | 36.1% | 34.5% | 32.1% | 30.5% |
_____________________________
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 content costs (royalty for licensed content, in-house productions and royalty to rightsholder), transactions costs and marketing. Storytel Reader or Ztory is not included in Streaming.
3 ARPU = Average Revenue Per User (Subscriber) per month. In Q1 2019, Storytel released a Family subscription in the Nordic markets and ran a discounted campaign, which lowered ARPU. Fewer days in Q1 (90) and growth in low priced markets also contributed to the lower ARPU.
4 Storytel Norway is included in figures @ 100%. In the consolidated group accounts, Norway is reported in accordance with the principle of proportional consolidation.
5 Print Publishing refers to physical books and digital sales through channels other than Storytel. Internal revenues from Storytel have been eliminated. All publishing houses in Sweden and outside of Sweden are included.
6 Contribution Profit is defined as revenue minus cost per sold unit, royalties to rights holders, distribution, sales and marketing costs.
Forthcoming reports
Interim Report Jan - June 2019: 13 August 2019
Interim Report Jan - Sep 2019: 12 Nov 2019
FNCA Sweden AB is the company’s certified adviser. FNCA can be reached at info@fnca.se or +46 8 528 00 399.
Stockholm, 14 May 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 Communication: +46 70 186 52 90
This information is information that Storytel AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at the time set out in this press release.
About Storytel
Storytel is Northern Europe's leading audiobook and e-book streaming service and offers unlimited listening and reading of more than 200 000 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 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 16 markets around the globe and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.
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