2021 was an eventful year for Acast, which acquired RadioPublic in the first quarter, and accomplished a Nasdaq listing in Q2. (The listing is on Nasdaq’s First North Premier Growth Market.)
Acast now hosts and monetizes over 40,000 shows. The company bragged about two of them: Sex with Emily and Flashback Forever. A partnership with Samsung also ranks as a highlight.
Following are key quarterly financials, reported in SEK currency (1 Swedish Krona = $0.11 USD). We observe the characteristic positive gross, negative net characteristic often seen in media companies.
- Strong net sales growth of 40% (95%) and record quarterly net sales of SEK 336.5 million (239.9)
- Organic net sales growth of 35% (117%) when adjusting for FX
- Gross margin at a healthy 36% (39%)
- Adj. EBITDA margin reached -8% (-3%)
- Adj. EBITDA of SEK -28.2 million (-6.6)
- Operating loss of SEK -39.5 million (-13.0)
- Net loss for the period impacted by positive FX and amounting to SEK -25.3 million (-28.1)
- Positive cash flow from operating activities of SEK 27.6 million (-54.7)
- Basic and diluted earnings per share for the period of SEK -0.14 (-0.21)
And here are the numbers for full-year 2021:
- Strong net sales growth of 73% (64%) and record net sales of SEK 1,026 million (592)
- Organic net sales growth of 74% (69%) when adjusting for FX
- Gross margin at a steady 36% (37%)
- Adj. EBITDA margin improved to -15% (-21%)
- Adj. EBITDA of SEK -150 million (-123)
- Operating loss of SEK -222 million (-149) includes IPO related costs of SEK 35 million
- Net loss for the period of SEK -300 million (-172) impacted by the repayment of EIB quasi-equity instrument and negative FX
- Significant improvement of cash flow from operating activities of SEK -107 million (-189)
- Basic and diluted earnings per share for the period of SEK -1.91 (-1.36)
- Listens reached 3,735 million (2,976) and ARPL improved to SEK 0.27 (0.20)
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