Storytel revenues up 20% in 2021 as company eyes more exclusive content

Swedish audio streaming company Storytel’s revenues for the last quarter of 2021 were up 20% on the previous year, in line with its forecast.

Full-year 2021 streaming revenues came in at 2,251 MSEK (million Swedish krona) or £182m, also up by 20% year on year and in line with the forecast of 2,250 MSEK. The total number of paying subscribers by the end of the year was 1.8 million, up 22% year on year. 

The company's streaming revenues for the fourth quarter of 2021 came in at 605 MSEK (£49m), which is within the forecasted range, both in the Nordic and the non-Nordic segment. 

Jonas Tellander, c.e.o. and founder of Storytel, said: “Despite high market penetration levels our Nordic segment continues to grow at a solid pace of 15%. Our recent introduction of a student subscription has been successful and contributes positively to subscriber growth. In order to continue to attract new subscribers and increase customer lifetime, we will accelerate our investments in exclusive and premium content, such as Storytel Originals.”  

Streaming revenues for the non-Nordic segment totalled 146 MSEK (£11.8m) in the fourth quarter, corresponding to an annual growth of 41%, within the forecasted range. In the Non-Nordic segment, the average number of subscribers grew by 43% to 736,700 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, which corresponds to an annual growth of 220,700 paying subscribers.  

Tellander said: “In the non-Nordics, revenues came in within our forecasted range, while subscriber growth somewhat below. We see early positive momentum from new product offerings including several holiday campaigns introduced during Q4, which we expect to reap the benefit from during Q1 as these customers convert to paying customers. Additionally, we see continued strong momentum in Poland, Russia and Turkey as investments kick in, whereas growth in the Netherlands was somewhat slower than anticipated.  

“We are also starting to see positive momentum in the LATAM [Latin America] region after an extended slump in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. Subscriber growth in India continues to be slow in the fourth quarter, as recurring payments were banned earlier in 2021, leading to a temporarily increased churn. Recurring payments were re-introduced in November, which hopefully will have a positive effect on subscriber growth in 2022.” 

In November Storytel signed a deal to acquire Audiobooks.com from owner KKR for $135m (£101m), extending its reach into the English language audio market. The acquisition completed on 7th January.