Audioboom (AIM:BOOM), the London-listed global podcasting group, said trading for the quarter ended 30 September is ahead of market expectations, with adjusted EBITDA up 89% to US$2.2 million against US$1.2 million a year earlier.
The board now expects full-year adjusted EBITDA of at least US$7.7 million, an upgrade on current market expectations.
Third-quarter revenue rose 17% to US$23.8 million from US$20.3 million a year earlier, while gross profit climbed 30% to US$5.6 million from US$4.3 million. For the nine months to 30 September, revenue reached US$69.5 million, up 25% on US$55.5 million in the same period last year, with gross profit up 32% to US$15.5 million and adjusted EBITDA up 84% to US$5.5 million.
Gross margin improved to 23% from 21% a year earlier, which the company attributed to a focus on higher quality revenue and improved creator contracts, while adjusted EBITDA margin rose to 9% from 6%.
Showcase, Audioboom's automated advertising marketplace, grew revenue 20% to US$9.7 million in the quarter, building on 60% growth reported for the whole of the first half.
In terms of usage, the platform said average monthly downloads and video views reached 190 million in the third quarter, up 47% on 130 million a year earlier, continuing the rapid audience growth seen in the second quarter, when the figure stood at 183 million.
Audioboom said group cash stood at US$6.7 million at 30 September, up from US$5.4 million at the end of June and US$2.9 million a year earlier, with a further US$3.4 million available via overdraft and US$10 million available through the revolving credit facility the company agreed in principle with HSBC earlier this year.
"Our outstanding performance in the first nine months of the year has positioned us to out-perform current market expectations, with Audioboom now expecting to deliver an increased adjusted EBITDA profit for 2026 of at least US$7.7 million", said chief executive Stuart Last.
The Audioboom CEO said Showcase benefited in September from "the first meaningful wave of political advertising spend" ahead of the US midterm elections, with the company's politics and news network generating around a quarter of a billion available ad impressions each month.
He added that M&A remains central to the group's growth strategy, with the HSBC facility and the US$6.7 million cash balance giving Audioboom "the financial firepower and flexibility to lead the inevitable consolidation within the podcast industry", targeting three to four meaningful transactions over the medium term.