The music streaming service made a loss during the second quarter, and missed analysts' forecasts, according to Bloomberg's compilation.
The number of monthly users of the streaming service Spotify is still increasing, to 696 million during the year's second quarter. This can be compared to 626 million the same quarter last year and was better than the company's own forecast.
More users
The number of so-called premium subscribers, paying, increased to 276 million during the second quarter, compared to 246 million last year. Spotify itself had counted 273 million premium subscribers during the quarter. Management is counting on continued customer growth for the rest of the year in a forecast.
Operating result for the second quarter fell to 406 million euros, equivalent to 4.5 billion kronor. This can be compared to 509 million euros in the first quarter and a forecast from the company of 539 million euros. After tax, it became a loss of 86 million euros, close to one billion kronor.
Billion-dollar blow
The company explains the weak figure with higher costs for personnel and marketing. In addition, there is a cost blow of 115 million euros – over one billion kronor in social fees. They are linked to the fact that the stock price is high and that employees receive share-related programs.
”People are turning to Spotify – and they choose to stay. By constantly developing, we create even greater value for the nearly 700 million people who use our platform. This benefits not only our users, but also attracts more to streaming – which in turn strengthens the entire industry for music, podcasts and audiobooks”, writes Daniel Ek, Spotify's founder and CEO, in a comment.
Facts: Spotify's forecast for the third quarter
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In its forecast for the third quarter of the year, Spotify expects the total number of users to continue to increase to 710 million, which would be a net addition of 14 million.
The number of premium subscribers is expected to continue to increase to 281 million, a net increase of 5 million.
The revenue forecast for the third quarter is 4.2 billion euros, while the forecast for the operating result is 485 million euros.
The gross margin – i.e. the gross profit share of revenue – in the forecast for the third quarter is 31.1 percent, which is lower than the 31.5 percent in the second quarter.
Spotify, with its headquarters in Stockholm, had 7,309 full-time employees around the world at the end of the second quarter.
Facts: Spotify
