Audioboom shares climb 6% after group records first profitable year

Shares in broadcast media platform Audioboom jumped by over 6 per cent this morning after it declared its first ever annual profit following a continuing surge in new listeners tuning into its podcasts.

The company made a net profit of around $1.4million in 2021, compared to a $3.3million loss last year, as it benefited from higher advertising revenue and became the fourth largest podcast publisher by market share in the United States.

Revenue climbed by 125 per cent to approximately $60.2million, more than double industry-wide expectations, as audience members subscribed to popular true crime shows such as Casefile, Mile Higher and Murder Mysteries and Lights Out.

Shares in the AIM-listed business, which makes the Dark Air With Terry Carnation and Dark History podcasts, have now skyrocketed by more than 500 per cent over the last 12 months  

Episodes were downloaded 113 million times per month on average by its customers during the fourth quarter, an increase of about a third on the same time last year, with October witnessing a record 115.7 million downloads.

For every 1,000 downloads, meanwhile, average global revenue soared by nearly half to $55.85, while the group said the launch of its international advertising marketplace Showcase helped boost advertising technology revenue.

In addition, it credited rising premium advertising inventory from gaining new content partners and the renewal of certain tie-ups with content creators in its Premium Network for a solid fourth-quarter performance.

Audioboom’s chief executive Stuart Last hailed the ‘phenomenal year’ experienced by the business, noting that it now held the second and third largest market share in New Zealand and Australia, respectively.

The company’s studios division makes podcasts on topics such as the American Mafia, former President Donald Trump and famous military operations, and the interview programme presented by television star Sue Perkins.

Chatting: Interview show Sue Perkins: An Hour or So With… is produced by Audioboom

Content produced by its partners include No Such Thing as a Fish, hosted by the writers of BBC comedy show QI, F1: Beyond the Grid, and The Outlander Podcast, a discussion spin-off of the hit fantasy series. 

Mr Last added that he was ‘very excited about 2022’ as the company had over $45million of advertising scheduled for next year, ‘giving us a strong foundation for further growth.’

‘Our newly created production team in the UK has a strong set of productions in development, and we will continue to invest into our ad tech platform following the successful launch of Showcase, our global advertising marketplace.’

Podcasts have swelled in popularity over recent years, but this trend was turbocharged by the coronavirus pandemic as locked-down listeners had more time on their hands to listen to new shows as well as their old favourites. 

One of the most beloved podcasts, The Joe Rogan Experience, struck a $100million deal to be exclusively streamed on Spotify, while Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made an £18million agreement with the streaming service.