Year-end report January - December 2020

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  • Streaming sales up 19 % from Q4 2019 to 503 (421) MSEK, +26% with fixed Fx rates. 
  • Subscriber base up 33% from Q4 2019 to 1,442,000 (1,083,400) on average. 
  • Net turnover increased to 663 MSEK from 565 MSEK in Q4 2019.
  • Earnings per share, after taxes amounted to  -1.05 SEK, before and after dilution, compared to -1.43 SEK in Q4 2019. 
  • The Board of Directors proposes no dividend to be paid for FY 2020. 
  • Launched in Belgium and Thailand. 
  • Acquired iCast Ltd, an audiobook streaming pioneer on the Israeli market. 

Table 1: Key performance indicators for Streaming and Print Publishing 

Currency: SEK 000’s Q4 2019 Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 Q1 2021
Streaming Total        Actual8     Forecast1
Revenue 421,454 429,251 459,115 490,234 503,449 514,000
Contribution Profit2,8 58,977 92,611 100,493 113,663 107,074
Contribution Margin 14.0% 21.6% 21.9% 23.2% 21.3%
Avg. Paying Subscribers3 1,083,400 1,154,800 1,257,000 1,360,300 1,442,000 1,542,000
ARPU4 (SEK/Month) 130 124 122 120 116 111
Streaming Nordics5
Revenue 352,222 349,768 366,322 394,453 399,639 399,000
Contribution Profit2,8 115,689 113,476 107,176 125,534 134,166
Contribution Margin 32.8% 32.4% 29.3% 31.8% 33.6%
Avg. Paying Subscribers3 757,600 785,800 833,300 902,000 926,000 954,000
ARPU4 (SEK/Month) 155 148 147 146 144 139
Streaming Non-Nordics
Revenue 69,233 79,484 92,793 95,781 103,810 115,000
Contribution Profit2,8 -56,713 -20,866 -6,684 -11,872 -27,092
Contribution Margin -81.9% -26.3% -7.2% -12.4% -26.1%
Avg. Paying Subscribers3 325,800 369,000 423,700 458,300 516,000 588,000
ARPU4 (SEK/Month) 71 72 73 70 67 65
Print Publishing6
Revenue 179,562 114,737 126,743 150,391 197,346
Contribution Profit7 65,592 41,678 44,147 63,667 81,774
Contribution Margin 36.5% 36.3% 34.8% 42.3% 41.4%
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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, external 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 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 both inside and outside of Sweden are included. 

7 Contribution Profit is defined as revenue minus cost of goods sold, royalties to rights holders, distribution, sales and marketing costs. 

8 Storytel has chosen to voluntarily apply the capitalisation model instead of the expensing model regarding internally developed intangible assets. In this table, the development of our digital catalogue has been capitalised and no longer treated as an expense as of Q1 2020. 

Guidance for Q1 2021 and FY 2021 

Q1 2021 guidance – Streaming segment 

Avg. subscribers Nordics: 954,000

Avg. subscribers Non-Nordics: 588,000

Avg. subscribers Total: 1,542,000
 

Revenue Nordics: 399,000

Revenue Non-Nordics: 115,000

Revenue Total: 514,000
 

FY 2021 guidance 

Subscribers EoY: 2,100,000–2,200,000

Streaming revenues: 2.4–2.5 BSEK

Group EBITDA margin: negative 0–5%


Forthcoming reports

Annual Report 2020: 1 April 2021

Interim Report Jan – Mar 2021: 7 May 2021

Interim Report Jan – June 2021: 6 Aug 2021

Interim Report Jan – Sept 2021: 5 Nov 2021

 

Annual general meeting of shareholders 

The annual general meeting of shareholders will be held in Stockholm on 4 May, 2021. More details about time and location will be published on Storytels website closer to the event. The annual report will be published on the company’s investor relations website on 1 April, 2021. 
 

FNCA Sweden AB is the company’s certified adviser. FNCA can be reached at info@fnca.se or +46 8 528 00 399.

 

Stockholm, 19 February 2021Board 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 disclosure contains information that Storytel is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU nr 596/2014). The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person, Cision.

 

About Storytel
Storytel is one of the world’s largest subscribed audiobook and e-book streaming services and offers listening and reading of more than 500 000 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. Storytel’s streaming business is conducted under the brands Storytel and Mofibo. Storytel’s publishing business area is carried out through the audiobook publisher StorySide and acclaimed Nordic publishing houses such as Norstedts, People’s and Gummerus. Storytel operates in over 20 markets around the globe and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

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