This
announcement contains inside information as stipulated under the UK
Market Abuse Regulations ("MAR").
Audioboom Group plc
("Audioboom", the
"Group" or the "Company")
Q1 Trading Update
11% revenue growth, continued EBITDA
profitability and record Q1 eCPM and brand count
Audioboom (AIM: BOOM), the leading global
podcast company, is delighted to provide a trading update for the
quarter ended 31 March 2024.
Financial and
operating highlights
· Q1 revenue of
US$17.1 million, up 11% on
Q1 2023 (US$15.4 million). The positive momentum of Q4 2023 has
continued with the second successive quarter of year-on-year
revenue growth Revenue growth has accelerated in this period (Q4
2023: 5% up on Q4 2022) and the Company expects further
acceleration in revenue growth rate through upcoming
quarters
· March revenue of
US$6.7 million represented the highest revenue month for the
Company since May 2022
· Q1 adjusted
EBITDA(1) profit of US$0.1 million (Q1 2023: US$0.2
million), representing the second successive quarter of adjusted
EBITDA profitability. With Q1 historically the seasonal low point
for revenue and EBITDA, we expect EBITDA profit to expand in future
quarters
· Record Q1 eCPM
(average global revenue per 1,000 downloads) of US$52.17,
up 27% (Q1 2023:
US$41.13)
· Record Q1 average
total brand advertiser count of 7,839, up 21% on Q1 2023 (6,498)
· Average Q1 global
monthly downloads of 110.0 million, (Q1 2023: 125.2 million, Q4
2023: 110.1 million). Due to Apple's iOS17 update in September
2023, download numbers across the wider podcast industry have
decreased by an average of 32%(2). Audioboom's Q1
year-on-year decrease of 12% significantly outperforms the market.
We expect the impact of the iOS17 update to create more favourable
long-term commercial conditions in the podcast industry due to the
increased levels of return-on-investment that more accurate
download data will deliver to advertisers
· Further
restructuring of creator contracts resulting in more favourable
revenue shares and more than US$5 million of Minimum Guarantee
obligations being removed
· Group cash of
US$3.1 million (31 December 2023: US$3.7 million) with a further
US$1.8 million available via an undrawn overdraft
· The
Company is confident it will achieve its revenue and adjusted
EBITDA goals for 2024, and has made significant progress with
contracted revenue of more than US$55 million for the year through
advanced advertising bookings - more than US$8 million added since
the January 2024 Trading Update
Key Q1 2024
commercial developments
·
Record audience reach achieved in January 2024, with more
than 38.6 million unique listeners consuming podcasts through the
Audioboom platform
·
Record revenue from Showcase, our global advertising
marketplace, in March 2024 reflects the Company's continued
progress in building key advertising technology
·
Record advertising inventory levels, with more than 1.1
billion impressions being made available to customers in March
2024, a 10% increase on the previously announced record from
October 2023 (1 billion)
·
Audioboom climbed the February 2024 Triton Digital podcast
ranker for audience reach, and is now the fourth biggest publisher
in the US - the world's largest podcast market
· The
expansion of Audioboom's executive team, with the hiring of Molly
Harvey as Vice President of Brand Sales (formerly of SiriusXM and
CBS Radio), and Shaun Wilson as Vice President of UK Sales
(formerly of Spotify and Sony Entertainment). These roles will
focus on the expansion of Audioboom's brand sales
business
·
Successful renewal of contracts with top tier podcasts in the
Audioboom Creator Network, including The Tim Dillon Show, True Crime Obsessed, I Think Not, Crime Weekly, and
Real Ghost Stories. These
podcasts contribute more than 90 million downloads to the network
on an annual basis
·
Further expansion of the Audioboom Creator Network through
the signing of new shows including: Pretty X Unfiltered, Soder,
BDA with
Katherine Schwarzenegger, Omnibus, Do We Know Them?
and George
Conway Explains It All To Sarah Longwell. These
shows are expected to deliver more than 4 million downloads to the
network each month
Stuart Last,
CEO of Audioboom, commented:
"2024 has
started exactly as we hoped with the positive momentum of the final
quarter of last year continuing. We recorded our second successive
period of year-on-year revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA profit as
our recovery from the challenging market conditions of 2023
continued. Over this coming year I expect our revenue growth rate
to improve further. We have more than US$55 million of contracted
revenue for 2024 from advance advertising bookings, and we are
perfectly positioned at this stage of the year to deliver our goals
of record revenue and adjusted EBITDA
profitability.
We have made
investments in our sales operation, and I am very pleased to bring
two highly skilled and experienced executives into the Audioboom
team. Molly Harvey in the US and Shaun Wilson in the UK will focus
on expanding our blue-chip brand customer base to drive revenue and
continue the maturation of our podcast monetisation
engine.
Other key
initiatives within the Company - including the continued growth of
our Showcase marketplace, accelerated ad inventory creation, the
expansion of our brand platform Sonic, and the restructuring and
renewal of podcaster contracts on more favourable terms - continued
to progress well in Q1.
We also took
our first steps in the utilisation of AI to generate advertising
creative and translate content for international distribution, as
well as expanding our work in monetising YouTube content. These are
two areas I believe will provide significant opportunity for the
business in the coming years.
Sentiment in
the advertising industry continues to improve, which can be seen in
our progress so far. The team at Audioboom are continuing to create
strong value in our platform for creators and brands, and we all
look forward to delivering a record 2024."
1) Earnings
before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, share based
payments, non-cash foreign exchange movements and material one-off
items
2) Podnews
analysis of Apple iOS17 impact utilising Triton Digital download
data
Enquiries
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Audioboom Group plc
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Stuart Last, Chief Executive
Officer
Brad Clarke, Chief Financial
Officer
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Tel: +44(0)20 3714 4285
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Cavendish Capital Markets Ltd (Nominated Adviser and
Broker)
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Jonny Franklin-Adams/Abigail
Kelly/Rory Sale (Corporate Finance)
Harriet Ward (ECM)
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Tel: +44(0)20 7220 0500
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About
Audioboom
Audioboom is a global leader in podcasting -
our shows are downloaded more than 135 million times each month by
38 million unique listeners around the world. Audioboom is ranked
as the fourth largest podcast publisher in the US by Triton
Digital.
Audioboom's ad-tech and monetisation platform
underpins a scalable content business that provides
commercial, distribution, marketing and
production services for a premium network of top tier podcasts. Key
partners include the official Formula 1 podcasts 'F1: Beyond the
Grid' and 'F1 Nation', 'Casefile True Crime' (US), 'True Crime
Obsessed' (US), 'The Tim Dillon Show' (US), 'No Such Thing As A
Fish' (UK) and 'The Cycling Podcast' (UK).
Audioboom operates internationally, with global
partnerships across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The
platform distributes content via Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify,
Pandora, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Facebook and
Twitter as well as a partner's own websites and mobile apps.
For more information, visit
audioboom.com.