Audioboom Group PLC (AIM:BOOM) reported lower revenue and profit in the quarter ended September as global economic headwinds impacted advertising demand.
The global podcast company saw sales drop 4% to US$16.2mln in the three-month period, but insisted recovery is underway with August and September up on the July low-point, while further improvements are expected through Q4.
Total revenue for the nine months to 30 September 2022 surged 44% to US$57.1mln, largely outpacing wider market growth of 15%.
Quarterly adjusted EBITDA profit of US$600,000 was lower than the US$1mln seen in the comparative period of 2021, while it rocketed 125% in the nine months to end-September to US$2.7mln.
“Despite a challenging quarter due to a downturn in the advertising market caused by deteriorating macro-economic conditions, Audioboom has continued in its mission to deliver value for podcast creators and advertisers while continuing to generate positive adjusted EBITDA and increasing cash reserves, reinforcing the robustness we have developed within the company,” Stuart Last, chief executive, commented.
Showcase, Audioboom's new global advertising marketplace, continued to grow strongly, with sales in Q3 up 75% on the same period last year and more than 115% greater on a year-to-date basis.
Average Q3 monthly downloads grew 9% to 107.5mln, while average sales revenue per 1,000 downloads fell to US$50.03 from US$54.77 in 2021 Q3.
The average Q3 brand advertiser count dropped to 333 from 370 due to the headwinds impacting the advertising demand.
CEO Last said advertising demand began to rebound in the second half of Q3 and that trend is continuing into Q4, with advertising bookings of more than US$73mln in place for 2022, 21% more than the entirety of last year's revenue.
"We are confident of a positive end to the year", Last said.
In September 2022, Audioboom was announced by Edison Research as the fourth-largest podcast publisher in America for the period July 2021-June 2022, with only Spotify, SiriusXM and iHeartMedia above it.