Storytel Group (STORY) CMD 2025 summary

Strategic direction and growth ambitions

• Aims to surpass 3 million subscribers by 2028, focusing on high-value customers in the Nordics and accelerating growth in core and new European markets, with 6–8 new markets under consideration, including reopening dormant ones.

• Pursues high single-digit organic growth, supplemented by selective M&A in both streaming and publishing, mainly in Europe, targeting market leadership.

• Expanding product and content leadership to new audiences, with increased focus on non-fiction, English-language content, and ebooks.

• Committed to further localizing offerings and optimizing the publishing segment for growth.

• Capital allocation priorities: organic growth in core markets, acquisitions in core and new markets, and a future dividend policy to return excess liquidity to shareholders.

Financial performance, guidance, and targets

• 2028 targets: revenue CAGR above 10%, EBITDA margin above 20%, and net debt/EBITDA below 1.5x.

• 2025 guidance: 7–10% revenue growth (CER), adjusted EBITDA margin of 17.5–19%, and operational capex below 5% of revenue.

• Subscriber base projected to grow by 10% in 2025, with the largest growth outside the Nordics, impacting ARPU slightly downward due to geographical mix.

• Group marketing spend to decrease to ~12–13% of sales by 2028, with operational capex also declining as a percentage of sales.

• Dividend policy to ensure flexible capital allocation and return excess liquidity to shareholders as cash flow grows.

Business model, operational excellence, and competitive advantages

• Integrated publishing and streaming model leverages synergies, with 75% of net sales from streaming and 25% from publishing, which has reached SEK 1 billion in revenues.

• Local presence and deep market knowledge drive high engagement and loyalty, with 2.5 million paying subscribers and 70% listening weekly.

• Marketing efficiency improved, reducing spend from 26% to 16% of revenue (Q1 2022 to Q1 2025), while customer intake and margins increased.

• Enhanced marketing efficiency, with customer lifetime value to acquisition cost ratio rising from 1.8 to 3.1 between Q1 2022 and Q1 2025.

• Market leader in 7 out of 10 core markets, with strong local teams and a matrix organization driving efficiency.