Two weeks ago global podcast company Audioboom disclosed its Q1 financials, reporting triple-digit revenue gain and double-digit podcast download gain. (See our coverage HERE.) Today we see Audioboom’s full-year reporting of 2021 financials, where the success story gains more breadth.
The headline metric: 2021 revenue was $60.3-million USD, up 125% over 2020 ($26.8M). The company says the 125% gain outpaced a “predicted wider industry average growth” by 108%.
The net profit of that growth came to $1.7M USD, compared to a $3.3M loss in 2020. Audioboom calls this breakthrough “maiden net profit.”
CPM is broken out in the report. Average global revenue per 1,000 downloads (eCPM) for Q4 increased to US$55.85, up 49% (Q4 2020: US$37.55).
Audioboom has three million dollars in the bank, and has booked over $60M in 2022 revenue, “underpinning expectations for the current financial year and higher than total revenue in 2021,” the company says.
Other highlights:
· Average global monthly downloads increased for the ninth successive quarter to 126.2 million, up 45% on Q1 2021 (87.1 million). Global downloads in March 2022 reached a record 131.0 million
· Continued growth of Showcase, our global advertising marketplace. Revenue from advertising technology in Q1 2022 more than 151% greater than in Q1 2021, and now contributing more than 11% to Group revenue
· Strong pricing due to robust advertising demand, with an Average Unit Rate (AUR) during the quarter for our top 25 podcasts at US$14,295 vs Q1 2021’s AUR of US$6,455
· Further expansion of Audioboom Studios with new title launches including National Park After Dark, Can I Get In Your Pantry?? and Devils in the Dark, which reached number 1 on the UK True Crime podcast chart and the Top 15 of Apple’s overall podcast chart
· Long-term renewal of key content partnerships in our Premium Network, including Casefile True Crime, Mile Higher, Strange & Unexplained, Lights Out and The Sesh
· Launch of a new strategic partnership with leading radio and media company, NZME, to monetise Audioboom’s advertising inventory in New Zealand
· To supplement available cash reserves, a £1.5 million overdraft with HSBC was implemented on 14 April 2022
· As of its trading update provided on 11 April 2022, the Company had contracted revenue in excess of US$60.5 million for 2022 through advance advertising bookings, underpinning expectations for the current financial year and higher than total revenue in 2021