Publicly traded podcast giant Acast released a Q1 financial report, disclosing net sales growth and gross margin for the quarter.
Those stories can be quickly told:
The company reminds us of its Wonder Media acquisition (RAIN HERE) which actually preceded the quarter, but was finalized in January. The related transaction costs figure into the Q1 accounting.
In a “Significant Events” item, the company reminds us of its Wonder Media acquisition (RAIN HERE) which actually preceded the quarter, but was finalized in January. The related transaction costs figure into the Q1 accounting.
The fine print reveals key sales, costs, profit, EBITDA, and other metrics, comparing them across one and two years. We see positive movement year-0ver-year in sales, cost, profit, and EBITDA.
In percentage terms, quarter over quarter, the following metrics are revealing:
- Sales growth: 30%
- Organic net sales growth: 26%
- Gross margin: 37%
A couple of basic audience metrics are tracked as well. We see that Acast delivered 1,1 billion listens in Q1, nearly identical to the year-ago Q1.
Of special interest: Average revenue per listen. That comes to 0.48 SEK (Swedish Krona) per listen. We’ll do the math. According to our conversion, that is five cents average revenue per listen.
Commentary
As always, Acas provides commentary from CEO Ross Adams. “We saw a robust start to 2025 with 30% sales growth, driven by an impressive 65% sales increase in North America,” he observes, starting a basic summary that emphasizes “monetization momentum” and “navigating strategic initiatives and macro uncertainty.”
Of the future, Adams is optimistic: “While acknowledging the uncertain macroeconomic environment, we have not experienced any impact on our campaign deliveries in the quarter. Having navigated economic downturns previously, we are confident in our ability to adapt our efforts and cost levels quickly and effectively if needed, to ensure profitable growth.”
