环球音乐二季度订阅流媒体增速与利润率不及预期，股价盘中暴跌

Universal Music shares plunge by a quarter on streaming growth fears
A quarter was wiped off the value of Universal Music Group on Friday after signs of a slowdown in the streaming market this year spooked investors.
The world’s largest music group missed City expectations on growth in subscription revenues in the second quarter, which will add to fears about the slowdown in the once rapidly growing streaming market as well as the potential impact of rip-off AI-generated songs. Subscription revenue growth slowed to 6.7 per cent from 7.9 per cent in the opening three months of the year.
The group’s earnings margin also disappointed investors, falling to 18.5 per cent from 20.5 per cent in the same quarter last year.
Shares in Universal, home to artists including Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar, fell 25 per cent in Friday morning trading in Amsterdam, giving the group a stock market valuation of €26.7bn.
UMG rejected a €55bn takeover bid from activist investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital in April that would have shifted its listing from Amsterdam to New York, arguing that the offer undervalued the business. Ackman sold his €1.4bn stake in June.
The Bolloré family has a stake of nearly 30 per cent. The Bollorés’ Vivendi Group, UMG’s largest shareholder with a 10 per cent stake, fell 17 per cent in France in response.
Universal chief executive Sir Lucian Grainge has tried to strike a more bullish stance for the group, telling staff in a note at the start of the year that Universal was home to four of Spotify’s top five most popular artists last year: Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Drake and Billie Eilish.
He claimed that “no other company — in music or any other sector of entertainment — has ever achieved such a level of success”. Top sellers during the past quarter included Olivia Rodrigo, Noah Kahan and South Korea’s BTS.
On Thursday night, Universal reported second-quarter revenue of €3.3bn, up 13.3 per cent year-on-year, in part reflecting the acquisition of Downtown Music as well as higher streaming prices. Spotify and Apple have both raised prices this year.
Net profit fell 85 per cent to €222mn, while free cash flow dropped to €24mn from €163mn a year earlier.
Grainge said the company was “delivering on our strategic plan, and working to further sharpen our execution, while capitalising on the opportunities presented by new technologies and the ever-evolving music ecosystem”.
Universal has unveiled plans to boost subscription revenues by moving superfans of its artists to paid subscription tiers and offering bundles of exclusive merchandise, content and direct-to-fan experiences.