TIDMBOOM
RNS Number : 6125Z
Audioboom Group PLC
15 January 2024
This announcement contains inside information as stipulated
under the UK Market Abuse Regulations ("MAR").
Audioboom Group plc
("Audioboom", the "Group" or the "Company")
2023 Trading Update
Q4 return to revenue growth, EBITDA profitability and cash
generation
Audioboom (AIM: BOOM), the leading global podcast company, is
pleased to provide a trading update for the year ended 31 December
2023.
Financial(1) and operating highlights
-- Q4 2023 return to revenue growth with revenue of
approximately US$19.2 million, up 37% on Q3 2023 (US$14.0 million)
and up 5% on Q4 2022 (US$18.4 million). Q4 2023 was the highest
revenue quarter since Q2 2022
-- Q4 2023 return to quarterly adjusted EBITDA(2) profit of
approximately US$0.2 million (Q3 2023: US$1.9 million loss)
-- Q4 2023 return to cash generation with Group cash of US$3.7
million at 31 December 2023, up US$0.7 million on 30 September 2023
with a further US$1.8 million available via an undrawn
overdraft
-- Total 2023 revenue of approximately US$65.0 million (2022:
US$74.9 million) and total 2023 adjusted EBITDA loss of
approximately US$1.5 million (2022: US$3.6 million adjusted EBITDA
profit)
-- Record eCPM (average revenue per 1,000 downloads) in Q4 of
US$58.82, up 59% on Q3 2023 (US$37.00) and up 6% on Q4 2022
(US$55.39)
-- Record average total brand advertiser count in Q4 of 8,406,
up 5% on Q3 2023 (7,960) and up 41% on Q4 2022 (5,944)
-- Average Q4 global monthly downloads of 110.1 million (Q4
2022: 110.9 million). Due to Apple's iOS17 update in September 2023
- which removes the auto-downloading of back-catalogue episodes
through the Apple podcast app - download numbers across the wider
podcast industry are expected to decrease by more than 10%;
significantly higher than the 0.75% Q4 2023 year-on-year reduction
the Company has reported, showing the Company is significantly
outperforming the market. Importantly, this change does not impact
Audioboom's premium advertising model which monetises first-window
consumption
-- The Company has already contracted revenue of more than
US$47.0 million for 2024, through advance bookings during a
positive "upfronts" advertising season
-- The Company anticipates record revenue in 2024, with
operational improvements (including the significant reduction in
minimum guarantee obligations) and a return to adjusted EBITDA
profitability
Key Q4 2023 and post-period commercial developments
-- Continued strong growth of Showcase, our global advertising
marketplace. Revenue from Showcase in 2023 was more than 35%
greater than in 2022 and is now contributing more than 23% to Group
revenue (up from 15% in 2022)
-- Positive development of our newly launched brand advertising
unit, increasing our customer base with new early-stage commercial
partnerships at 8 of the top 15 biggest US advertising agencies
-- Expansion of our creator network through new tier one content
partnerships, including Matt and Shane's Secret Podcast, The Why
Files, Gains & Gossip and Heart Starts Pounding. These new
podcasts are expected to contribute more than five million
downloads per month to the Audioboom Creator Network in 2024
-- Reduction of more than US$2 million of annual minimum
guarantee obligations beginning 1 January 2024 through the
successful re-contracting of creator partnerships, with further
reductions to our minimum guarantee exposure expected throughout
2024
-- Significant expansion of advertising inventory made available
to customers, with October 2023 achieving the milestone of one
billion available advertising impressions. Audioboom now creates
more than eight advertising slots per episode download, positioning
the Company to capture maximum available advertiser demand
-- Successful launch of AdVet, a new proprietary tool for our
creators that reduces advertising booking times by more than 60%
and optimises Audioboom's win-rate of brand budgets
Stuart Last, CEO of Audioboom, commented:
"I'm pleased to report a successful final quarter of 2023, with
the business returning to growth mode. Our Q4 revenue of over US$19
million is the highest since Q2 2022 and reflects the improvements
we have made in the business across the year.
The focus on expanding and diversifying our customer base
through the launch of our brand sales unit has resulted in new
commercial partnerships with leading advertising agencies. Our
drive to optimise advertising inventory on the platform has led to
a sharp increase in the number of ad slots we create per episode,
with a subsequent one billion ad impressions being made available
for sale to our customers in October. These operational
improvements have positioned us to capture maximum value from
advertisers in 2024.
As well as a return to revenue growth, we also returned to a
position of cash generation and adjusted EBITDA profitability in
Q4. During this period we successfully renewed contracts with a
number of our podcast partners on more favorable terms, reducing
our exposure to minimum guarantees significantly from 1 January
2024, with further incremental reductions in our minimum guarantee
exposure expected across next year. This is expected to enable us
to deliver adjusted EBITDA profitability in 2024.
I am buoyed by a more positive sentiment in the advertising
industry, with brands making strong budget commitments during the
upfronts booking season, resulting in us contracting more than
US$47 million of revenue for 2024 through advance bookings.
I would like to thank our shareholders for their continued
support, and the Audioboom team for delivering the operational
improvements that we expect to make 2024 a record year."
Investor Presentation
Stuart Last, CEO, and Brad Clarke, CFO, will provide a live
presentation relating to the 2023 Trading Update via the Investor
Meet Company platform on 17 January 2024 at 3:00pm.
The presentation is open to all existing and potential
shareholders. Questions can be submitted pre-event via your
Investor Meet Company dashboard up until 9am the day before the
meeting or at any time during the live presentation.
Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add
to meet Audioboom Group PLC via:
https://www.investormeetcompany.com/audioboom-group-plc/register-investor
Investors who already follow Audioboom Group PLC on the Investor
Meet Company platform will automatically be invited.
1) Financial information for the year ended 31 December 2023 remains subject to audit
2) Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation,
share based payments, non-cash foreign exchange movements and
material one-off items
Enquiries
Audioboom Group plc
Stuart Last, Chief Executive Officer Tel: +44(0)20 3714
Brad Clarke, Chief Financial Officer 4285
Cavendish Capital Markets Ltd (Nominated Adviser
and Broker)
Jonny Franklin-Adams/Abigail Kelly/Rory Sale Tel: +44(0)20 7220
(Corporate Finance) 0500
Harriet Ward (ECM)
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 fifth
largest podcast publisher in the US by Edison Research.
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.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
TSTGPUPPGUPCGRC
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 15, 2024 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Audioboom (LSE:BOOM)
Graphique Historique de l'Action
De Déc 2024 à Jan 2025
Audioboom (LSE:BOOM)
Graphique Historique de l'Action
De Jan 2024 à Jan 2025
