Universal Music Q3 subscription revenue growth tops expectations

By Reuters News

By Jerome Terroy

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"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)

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