Storytel's CEO, Bodil Eriksson Torp, informed shareholders that the company foresees substantial future growth across all its markets, as industry forecasts indicate the current user base is set to double within the next five years.
This report was authored by Andrew Richard Albanese, the Editor-in-Chief.
Storytel, an audiobook company based in Stockholm, Sweden, announced this week that it achieved unprecedented profits in 2025 and is strategically prepared to achieve its ambitious growth objectives for 2026 and subsequent years.
In a statement to shareholders, Storytel CEO Bodil Eriksson Torp highlighted 2025 as a pivotal year for the Storytel Group, which unequivocally demonstrated the robustness of its operational framework. She noted that the company reached unparalleled levels of profitability and cash flow, propelled by consistent subscriber expansion in key markets, the rollout of various cutting-edge product functionalities, and outstanding publishing achievements across diverse genres and formats.
Storytel's net profit in 2025 surged to SEK 504 million (approximately $57 million), effectively doubling the SEK 213 million (around $24 million) reported the previous year. Overall revenue saw a 9.2% increase at constant exchange rates, bolstered by an 8.1% rise in streaming revenue and an impressive 18% jump in publishing revenue. Given these robust financial outcomes, the company's board of directors put forward a proposal for a dividend of SEK 1.50 per share, an increase from the SEK 1 per share distributed last year.
These positive results were largely fueled by the streaming division, which gained 220,000 new paying subscribers, bringing the total subscriber count to 2.67 million by the end of 2025. This growth included 60,000 new users from the Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland) and over 140,000 new subscribers from other regions such as the U.S., Bulgaria, Netherlands, Poland, and Turkey.
Torp highlighted several improvements that contributed to this expansion, such as synchronized listening and reading capabilities, an improved search feature, and highly customized content recommendations.
Bodil Eriksson Torp serves as the CEO of Storytel Group.
The CEO further explained that Storytel's unprecedented expansion in its publishing division during 2025 stemmed from numerous eagerly awaited releases available in both physical and digital formats. A significant achievement was the introduction of a pay-per-book service in the fourth quarter, which, according to Torp, broadened the company's collection by adding over 35,000 English titles that users could purchase individually directly within the application.
Following the delivery of exceptional results for 2025, Torp assured shareholders that Storytel is strategically poised for future success.
Torp expressed confidence that the global book market will continue its upward trajectory indefinitely, primarily propelled by the consistent increase in digital formats like audiobooks and ebooks. She emphasized the immense scope of this opportunity, noting that in Storytel's primary markets of Europe and North America, the count of monthly active audiobook users almost doubled from 2020 to 2025. Given industry forecasts predicting another doubling of this user base in the coming five years, she stated that Storytel anticipates considerable additional growth potential throughout all its operational areas.
Torp mentioned that through a blend of "organic growth strategies and strategic merger and acquisition opportunities," the company has established a clear objective to achieve at least SEK 870 million in EBITDA organically by 2026. Furthermore, Storytel projects exceeding SEK 1 billion in EBITDA and reaching over 3 million subscribers by 2027.
Concluding her statement, Torp acknowledged the "extraordinary dedication of our team members," expressing pride in celebrating another year of record achievements. She affirmed that as Storytel continues to evolve the narrative of storytelling, the company remains committed to generating significant and enduring value for its customers, authors, publishers, and shareholders. She concluded by stating that Storytel approaches 2026 with profound optimism.