Audio book streamer Storytel sees strong growth ahead as Q4 losses grow

Swedish audio book streaming group Storytel on Thursday forecast continued strong growth in streaming revenues and paying subscribers in the first quarter as it reported bigger fourth-quarter losses than in the previous year. Storytel, which operates in 20 countries and is currently loss-making due to heavy spending on an international expansion drive, made a quarterly loss before tax of 104 million crowns, compared with a 79 million loss in the year-earlier quarter. Read More...

STOCKHOLM, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Swedish audio book streaming group Storytel on Thursday forecast continued strong growth in streaming revenues and paying subscribers in the first quarter as it reported bigger fourth-quarter losses than in the previous year.

The company, which competes with the likes of Amazon’s Audible, forecast streaming revenues of 438 million crowns ($44.65 million) in the first quarter, up 48% year-on-year, with 1.15 million average paying subscribers seen, corresponding to growth of 38%.

Storytel, which operates in 20 countries and is currently loss-making due to heavy spending on an international expansion drive, made a quarterly loss before tax of 104 million crowns, compared with a 79 million loss in the year-earlier quarter. ($1 = 9.8093 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Johannes Hellstrom; editing by Simon Johnson)