Audioboom Q1: “A breakthrough” with double-digit revenue gains, quarterly profit, $41 CPMs, more

Publicly traded Audioboom (London Stock Exchange) released its Q1 results. CEO Stuart Last called it “a breakthrough period for Audioboom.” The company’s quarterly releases are especially notable as Audioboom is the only publicly traded major pure podcast publisher; the results offer a glimpse into podcasting economics.

In this quarter, the economics are indisputably glowing. Some highlights:

• Record quarterly revenue of US$9.5 million, up 49% on Q1 2020 (US$6.4 million) and up 12% on Q4 2020 (US$8.5 million)
• Quarterly adjusted EBITDA profit of US$0.03 million (Q1 2020: US$0.5 million loss)
• Average global monthly downloads increased to 87.1 million, up 37% on Q1 2020 (63.4 million). Global downloads in March 2021 reached 91.6 million
• Average brand advertiser count of 301, up 12% on Q1 2020 (270)
• Average global revenue per 1,000 downloads (eCPM) increased to US$40.55, up 14% (Q1 2020: US$35.55)
• Access to capital of US$5.5 million as at 31 March 2021, represented by Group cash of US$2.2 million and US$3.3 million of the non-revolving SPV loan facility remaining undrawn

Audioboom noted that the company is on track to deliver on its total 2021 revenue guidance, having already signed ad deals representing more than 90% of forecast.

Other notes include expansion of the Audioboom Originals portfolio, and strategic relationship deals which are well covered in RAIN.

More from Stuart Last: “Our record performance is driven by our content focused expansion strategy. New content partnerships and successful Audioboom Originals Network launches delivered strong growth in our Global Downloads key performance indicator, with more than 90 million downloads in March. As a result, Audioboom became the fourth largest podcast publisher by number of average weekly users in the US on the Triton Digital ranker.”

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