Audioboom revenues drop due to weak advertising market, contract loss

Podcast company Audioboom posted a decline in revenues on Monday as it pointed to a weak advertising market and the loss of one of its contracts.

In the nine months to the end of September, revenue fell to $45.8m from $57.1m a year earlier, after it lost the Morbid podcast - which left the network last May - and due to a weak advertising market.

The company also reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.7m.

However, it hailed a strong start to the fourth quarter, with expected revenue of at least $19m, the highest revenue quarter since Q2 2022, and representing a return to year-on-year growth on a quarterly basis.

Chief executive Stuart Last said: "Strong operational progress in Q3 2023 will be recognised through a return to year-on-year and strong sequential revenue growth in the final quarter of the year, as well as a return to adjusted EBITDA profit on a quarterly basis."

He added: "As audiences continue to flock to podcasting - highlighted by the record 126 million plus downloads across our network each month - we are optimising for the current advertising market, while we are also primed and ready to take full advantage of any future macro improvements.

"Further operational optimisation, particularly improvements to our creator contracts which increase our share of advertising revenue, whilst vastly reducing our exposure to minimum guarantees, are expected to move us back to adjusted EBITDA profitability in Q4 and drive EBITDA growth in 2024."