Distributor Believe has released its results for the first half of 2022, revealing that revenues grew by 35.4% to reach €352.2 million.
Digital revenues represented 92.4% of revenues, and increased by 37.8% year-over-year (YoY), a result, Believe said, of “increased paid streaming, better monetization of ad-funded streaming services and additional market gains in major DSPs both in mature and emerging countries.” Its ‘automated solutions’ division – which includes Tunecore – supplied revenues of €23.0 million, up 34.9%, partly in response, Believe said, to organic growth around changes in pricing, including TuneCore’s recent annual subscription unlimited distribution package.
The international breakdown of revenue showed upticks across the board. The Asia Pacific and Africa region, which showed strongest growth, grew at 61.0% YoY to €90.8m and represented 25.8% of total revenues. The Americas region grew by 33.5% and represented 14.1% of total revenues, with strong activity from Latin America, Believe said. France and Germany are separated out: France’s grew by 36.8% to €59.4m and Germany grew by 13% to €53.9m. The rest of Europe was the strongest-delivering region at €98.4m, although the 30.5% increase YoY was impacted by decelerating revenues from Russia and Ukraine.
All of this results in an adjusted EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of €11.7m, compared to last year’s first half results of €7.3 million. Founder and CEO, Denis Ladegaillerie, feels positive about the rest of 2022: “We expect to remain on a solid and positive profitable trajectory in H2 and will continue to invest in our Central Platform and local teams to continue to innovate for our artists and labels and drive future growth.”
There are a few interesting things to look out for in the next six months. At the end of Q1, Believe anticipated a large drop from the Ukraine and Russian markets, but it’s not been as bad as expected – even showing a modest increase of 2.9% in Q2 2022. Interestingly, due to the strong rouble, Believe expects stable revenues in both regions in the next six months. It’ll also be interesting to see if the Asia Pacific and Africa region overtakes Europe (minus France and Germany) as the biggest percentage contributor to the company’s revenues at the end of the year – having been closing the gap for a number of quarters now.
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