Acast is “on track” to make a profit in 2024 after it posted double-digit organic growth in the first quarter.
The global podcast platform recorded 23% organic net sales growth in Q1, “primarily driven” by 48% growth in North America. Europe and other markets posted 16% and 20% growth respectively.
North America’s strong performance was attributed to “an improved sentiment among advertisers” and “positive returns on our investments into the region”, according to Acast CEO Ross Adams.
He told The Media Leader that this sentiment “applies to the whole market” and was down to “macroeconomic climates across the industry and within advertisers”.
Number of listens across Acast’s network decreased by 12% compared with Q1 2023 — a result of the effects of Apple’s software change in iOS17.
Adams said Acast believes the number of listeners “have reached a new baseline” following the iOS17 impact coming into “full effect”. He added: “Going forward, we think it’s important to highlight that listener activity keeps trending in the right direction.”
Positive full-year forecast
Acast recorded positive adjusted EBITDA (a measure of a company’s profitability) for the first time in Q4 2023 and in the latest quarter its EBITDA margin hit -4%.
Adams told The Media Leader: “Advertising is a relatively seasonal business. Traditionally, Q4 is always the largest sales quarter, which explains why our EBITDA is lower quarter on quarter. We maintain our positive profitability trend and are on track to reach positive EBITDA in the full year 2024.”
Other notable events in Q1 include launching an update to AI-driven tool Predictive Demographics, which offers advertisers more precise cookie-free audience targeting, and The Telegraph becoming the latest UK news publisher to join Acast to grow its podcast network after the BBC, The Times, The Guardian, The New Statesman, the Financial Times and Tortoise Media.
In addition, Barack and Michelle Obama’s media company, Higher Ground, released its new Ways to Win podcast in March, having moved from Spotify.
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