Black Ink for Audible

by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 8/16/2004

Audible Inc. produced its second consecutive profitable quarter in the June 30 period, reporting net income of $236,000 compared to a net loss of $913,000 in last year's second quarter. Total revenue rose 82%, to $8.1 million.

Executives attributed the strong sales gain to the addition of 24,500 members to its monthly subscription service, a tripling of single-title sales through audible.com and accelerating sales at the Apple iTunes Music Store. In addition, chairman Don Katz said, the company is beginning to see more interest in "discrete" shorter items, such as speeches, including former president Bill Clinton's keynote address at BEA. Among the costs incurred in the quarter was $2.6 million in royalties paid to publishers, about one-third of sales.

The solid second quarter prompted Audible to raise its sales forecast for the full year to $29.5 million to $31.5 million, from an earlier range of $28 million to $30 million. The company expects sales to benefit in the second half of the year from a significant increase in the number of Audible-compatible digital devices available, as well as new co-marketing deals with retailers. Overseas expansion is also in the works. Andrew Kaplan, Audible CFO, said, "We hope to soon announce the introduction of Audible somewhere in Europe."

Audible still expects to generate full-year net income between $1 million and $1.4 million. For the first six months of 2004, sales were $14.8 million with net income of $294,357.