Universal Music Q3 subscription revenue growth tops expectations
By Jerome Terroy
July 30 (Reuters) -
"This quarter showed clear progress: subscription revenue growth accelerated and adjusted EBITDA margin, excluding Downtown, expanded by 40 basis points, led by stronger margins in Recorded Music," CFO Matt Ellis said.
Recorded Music subscription revenue grew 9.5% at constant currency, excluding Downtown — above the 8.2% growth analysts expected, according to an ING note published ahead of the results
The company reported revenue of 3.39 billion euros ($3.78 billion) in the quarter — up 11.7% at constant currency; excluding Downtown, the growth was 5.3%
Adjusted EBITDA rose 9% at constant currency to 729 million euros
Margin expansion in Recorded Music was partly offset by lower profitability in Music Publishing and Merchandising
Ad-supported streaming revenue grew 4.7%, excluding Downtown, while physical revenue increased 17.4%
Top sellers during the quarter included Mrs Green Apple, Olivia Rodrigo, Stray Kids, Ariana Grande and The Beatles, Universal said
Downtown, which owns a major music publisher and a other businesses that help musicians collect royalties, was acquired by Universal earlier this year
($1 = 0.8971 euros)