Storytel - Swedish audiobook growth company

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Owen Smith, head of audiobooks at Spotify, said the company had secured partnerships with both Bonnier and Storytel’s publishing companies.

Hmm, so Storytel has sold some rights to Spotify, and when you combine this with the CFO’s purchases yesterday (0.8 million SEK) after Spotify’s announcement, could there be something positive behind this, or am I just on hopium?

One would think that some announcement would have been made about this by now?

(edit) No, it actually means that Spotify has made some agreements with Storytel Books and StorySide, which are Storytel’s publishing companies.

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212

I came across this on social media, but I couldn’t find Storytel’s own announcement about it.

Screenshot_20251119_135310_Facebook
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So, some agreement has been made regarding Storytel’s selection on economic grounds, but they cannot predict what Spotify’s entry into the market will lead to.

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“Storytel Group entered 2026 with clear momentum, supported by robust subscriber growth, continued margin expansion, and strong cash flow generation”, says Bodil Eriksson Torp, CEO Storytel Group.

Q1 Highlights

  • Net sales amounted to SEK 979m (953) for the period.
  • Net sales growth of 7.9% in constant exchange rates (CER).
  • Streaming net sales growth of 7.4% at CER. External Publishing net sales growth of 9.2% at CER.
  • Adjusted EBITDA margin of 17.0% (14.1%), driven by improved profitability in both business areas.
  • Operating profit increased 61% from SEK 55m to 88m.
  • Net profit amounted to SEK 86m (19), with basic and diluted EPS of SEK 1.06 (0.20).
  • Net debt amounted to SEK -220m (116), reflecting strong cash flow generation.
  • New segment structure improving transparency into our international growth engine.
  • Paying subscribers amounted to 2.74m (2.53), with net additions of +72k in the period, on track to exceed 3m in 2027.
  • Nordic paying subscribers amounted to 1.34m (1.28), with net additions of +11k in the period.
  • Europe paying subscribers amounted to 1.06m (0.94), surpassing 1m for the first time, driven by Poland and the Netherlands.
  • Group ARPU (SEK/month) amounted to SEK 113 (120), decreased by 5.5%, with FX accounting for 85% of the decline.

Outlook 2026
Adjusted EBITDA guidance of at least SEK 870m for 2026.

Financial summary

MSEK Q1 2026 Q1 2025 Change R12M FY 2025
Net sales 979 953 3% 4,049 4,023
Net sales growth, %³ 2.7 6.8 -4.1pp - 5.9
Net sales growth CER, %³ 7.9 7.0 0.9pp - 9.2
Organic growth CER, %³ 7.5 6.8 0.7pp - 8.3
Total Segment Streaming Net sales¹ 877 862 2% 3,533 3,518
Total Segment Publishing Net sales² 288 283 2% 1,278 1,274
Gross profit 442 423 5% 1,852 1,833
Gross margin %³ 45.2 44.4 0.8pp 45.7 45.6
Adjusted EBITDA³ 166 135 24% 780 748
Adjusted EBITDA margin %³ 17.0 14.1 2.9pp 19.3 18.6
EBITDA 163 135 21% 776 747
EBITDA margin % ³ 16.6 14.1 2.5pp 19.2 18.6
Operating profit (EBIT) 88 55 61% 456 423
EBIT margin %³ 9.0 5.8 3.2pp 11.3 10.5
Net profit 86 19 361% 572 504
Earnings per share, basic (SEK) 1.06 0.20 430% 7.12 6.26
Earnings per share, diluted (SEK) 1.06 0.20 428% 7.08 6.22
Cash flow from operating activities 135 29 367% 679 573
Net Debt³ -220 116 - -220 -136
Net Debt/adjusted R12 EBITDA ratio³ -0.28 0.18 - -0.28 -0.18
End of period subscribers (thousands) 2,737 2,532 8% - 2,666
ARPU (SEK/month) 113 120 -6% - 118
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