Audioboom shares rise as podcast listeners tune in
Audioboom shares pushed higher this morning after the podcasting platform reported a jump in revenue last year.
The London-listed firm posted revenue of roughly $26.8m (£19.7m) in 2020, up by a fifth on the previous year.
Audioboom, which hosts and distributes podcasts including No Such Thing As A Fish and Sue Perkins: An Hour Or So With, also narrowed its loss from $2.9m to $1.8m.
The improved performance came despite the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak in the second quarter, which led to a slump in ad spend across all media sectors.
Audioboom said its brand advertiser count rose 11 per cent year on year, while revenue per 1,000 downloads was up by a third.
Overall revenue for the year was boosted by a record quarterly performance in the last three months of the year, when revenue rose by a quarter.
Shares in the Aim-listed firm rose as much as 10 per cent in morning trading.
It comes after Audiboom, which is backed by property tycoon Nick Candy, sold a 10 per cent stake Singapore-based tech investment group One Nine Two.
The deal, announced in October, raised £3m to help fund the platform’s investment in original programming.
Audioboom had launched a formal sale process, but abandoned the auction after failing to attract a high enough offer.
Despite this, the company said it was positive about its outlook and planned to achieve profitability this year.
“I am delighted that the company continues to perform well on all fronts despite one of the most challenging years in history,” said chief executive Stuart Last.
“In 2021, we will continue to scale our content operation, partnering with leading independent podcasts and investing in our in-house production arm. We see significant potential in emerging revenue streams that utilise our ad tech platform, including programmatic and international sales.”