English
Published: 2019-01-08 08:15:00 CET
Storytel AB
Announcement from First North
Storytel meets its forecast for Q4, 2018
During the fourth quarter of 2018, Storytel had on average
768,700
paying subscribers, an increase of nearly 48,000 subscribers compared
to the
third quarter of 2018, and somewhat higher than the published forecast
of
765,000 paying subscribers. Streaming revenue for the fourth quarter of
2018
also beat expectations at app. 291.3 MSEK (as compared to the forecast of
290
MSEK), indicating a 39.2% annual growth rate.
During the fourth quarter of
2018, the average number of Swedish subscribers
totalled 345,000, or 4,200 more
than forecast. In addition, revenue forecasts
were surpassed by approximately
2.5 MSEK, and Swedish streaming revenue totalled
140 MSEK during the fourth
quarter of 2018. The increase of subscribers in
Sweden was partially spurred on
by the introduction of the Family Subscription
which was introduced in
December. In total, the Swedish subscriber base
increased by 52,500 subscribers
during 2018, in line with Storytel’s goals for
the year.

“After a
well-executed effort involving a large proportion of the organisation,
we’ve
now developed our version of a family subscription plan, which has
initially
been very well received by our customers. With individual accounts and
a
special focus on children through our Kids Mode, we’ve developed a
solution
which we believe fits the entire family. A few weeks after its
introduction, we
can already see a large number of customers upgrading to the
new plan, and we
look forward to seeing how it progresses throughout 2019 as we
introduce the
plan to markets outside of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and
Iceland,” says
CEO Jonas Tellander.

During the fourth quarter of 2018, the
average number of international
subscribers was 423,500, slightly lower than
the forecast though still in line
with expectations, and representing an
increase of 39,000 paying subscribers
compared to the third quarter of 2018.
International streaming revenue totalled
approximately 151 MSEK during the
fourth quarter of 2018, about one million SEK
lower than forecast. During 2018,
the total number of international subscribers
increased by 182,000.

“During
2018 our annual subscriber growth rate outside of Sweden was 76%, in
line with
our goals. Our international expansion the last few years has been
fairly
aggressive, and during the quarter we launched in two new markets Mexico
and
Bulgaria, all according to our plan of opening in six new markets last
year,”
says CEO Jonas Tellander.

Key numbers for  Streaming

Currency:               
                                           Q4 2018
thousand SEK         Q3     
 Q4       Q1       Q2       Q3
                   2017     2017     2018    
2018     2018
Streaming
Total
Revenue         197 881  209 225  222 133  239
139  279 979         291 315
Contribution     27 784   30 277   24 079   25 045
  22 063
Profit1
Contribution      14,0%    14,5%    10,8%    10,5%    
7,9%
Margin
Paying          503 900  533 400  577 900  621 200  720 900        
768 700
Subscribers
ARPU2               131      131      128      128      129
            126
(SEK/Month)

Streaming
Sweden
Revenue         113 709  118 038 
122 046  125 759  135 986         139 977
Contribution     32 872   38 501   43
067   35 763   40 888
Profit
Contribution      28,9%    32,6%    35,3%    28,4%
   30,1%
Margin
Paying          282 300  292 700  305 100  314 700  336 200    
    345 200
Subscribers
ARPU                134      134      133      133     
135             135
(SEK/Month)

Streaming
International3
Revenue          84
172   91 187  100 087  113 380  143 993         151 338
Contribution     -5 088
  -8 224  -18 988  -10 718  -18 826
Profit
Contribution      -6,0%    -9,0%  
-19,0%    -9,5%   -13,1%
Margin
Paying          221 600  240 700  272 800  306
500  384 700         423 500
Subscribers
ARPU                127      126     
122      123      125             119
(SEK/Month)

1. Contribution Profit is
defined as streaming revenue minus costs for content
(licensed content and
in-house productions) and marketing. Storytel Reader is
not included in
Streaming.

2. ARPU = Average Revenue Per User (Subscriber) per month

3.
Storytel Norway included in figures @ 100%. In the consolidated group
accounts
Norway is reported according to the principle of
proportional
consolidation.

For more information, please contact:

Jonas
Tellander, CEO: +46 70 261 61 36

FNCA Sweden AB is the company’s certified
adviser. FNCA can be reached at
info@fnca.se or 08-528 00 399.

This
information is such information that Storytel AB (publ) is obliged to
make
public in accordance with EU:s market regulation
(marknadsmissbruksförordning).
The information was made public by above contact
person on January 8th, 2018 at
08:15 CET.

About Storytel

The Storytel group
consists of two divisions, Streaming and Publishing. The
Streaming division
currently offers a subscription service for audio books and e
-books under the
brand names Storytel and Mofibo in Sweden, Norway, Denmark,
Finland, Iceland,
The Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain, India, the United Arab
Emirates,
Turkey, Italy, Mexico and Bulgaria. The Streaming division also
publishes audio
books and Storytel Originals, mainly through the audio-book
publisher
Storyside. The Publishing division consists of the publishers
Norstedts,
Massolit, Printz Publishing, the Danish People’s Press, Storytel
Publishing,
Rabén & Sjögren and B. Wahlströms, as well as Norstedts Kartor.

 


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