Good day and welcome to today's Deezer Alexis Lanternier 2025 conference call. My name is Sergey, and I'll be your coordinator for today's event. Throughout today's recorded presentation, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. You may register for questions at any time by pressing star one on your telephone keypad. I'd like to hand the call over to Alexis Lanternier, CEO, to begin today's presentation. Thank yo
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Deezer H1 2025 results conference call. I'm Alexis Lanternier, the CEO of Deezer. Today, Carl and I will present Deezer's 2025 H1 results. I will start with the key highlights of the semester, and Carl will then go into more details on our H1 performance. After that, we will discuss our 2025 outlook. At the end of our presentation, we'll answer your questions. Let's move to slide 4. We delivered strong progress in the first half of 2025, marking our seventh consecutive semester of positive adjusted EBITDA, a significant financial milestone that will set the discipline execution of our strategy and confirms Deezer's entry into a new cycle of sustainable profitability. On the revenue side, the performance is in line with our expectations, reaching EUR 167.1 million, up 1.3% at constant currency, or -0.3% at current currency.
The standout business highlight for the semester was the acceleration in our direct subscriber base growth. We achieved +5.5% year-over-year growth on a like-for-like basis, reaching 5.3 million subscribers. This momentum was particularly strong in France, where like-for-like subscribers' growth rose to 8.2% year-over-year. On the operational front, we continued to improve efficiency. Gross margin increased by EUR 1 million year-over-year, and we achieved a EUR 6.1 million reduction in fixed costs. These efforts resulted in an adjusted EBITDA of EUR 2.1 million compared to a loss of EUR 5 million in H1 2024. We also delivered positive free cash flow for the period. Our cash position remained solid, standing at EUR 60 million at the end of Q2. Moving to slide 5, as I mentioned in my introduction, we have now delivered positive adjusted EBITDA for the second consecutive semester, confirming our path towards full-year profitability in 2025.
This strong improvement was driven by two key levers: smarter and more efficient marketing spend, and continued strict cost control across the organization. This performance reflects the structural transformation of Deezer's financial profile and gives us confidence in our ability to deliver our fiscal year guidance, meaning we reached full-year positive EBITDA and another year of positive free cash flow. Let's now spend a few minutes discussing the key business highlights of this first half of the year. Let's move to slide 7. As I mentioned during our full-year 2024 results presentation, we entered a new strategic cycle, with 2025 being a pivotal year for Deezer. We are driving breakthrough innovation and laying the groundwork for profitable, sustainable growth. Our strategy is built on three core pillars: enhancing the fan experience, empowering artists, and scaling our business with partners, all while maintaining strict focus on cost control and efficiency.
For fans, we've been rolling out new features designed for the needs of the younger generation, with greater personalization and customization capabilities, more control over the recommendation algorithm, and richer social experiences. We are also creating new ways for fans to connect directly with each other and with their favorite artists. For artists, we expanded the use of our AI capabilities with groundbreaking solutions to collect artists' rights and content, while continuing our progress on innovative models that ensure fair artist remuneration. For partners, we have strengthened long-term distribution partnerships, signed new deals with a particular focus on standardized models. We have also reinforced our expanded white label offerings, with deal renewals and expansion into new verticals with great traction. Throughout this initiative and entire, we are maintaining strict financial discipline, as you saw in H1, and remain on track to deliver positive adjusted EBITDA in 2025.
Moving on to slide 8. On the fan pillar, we are executing on this focused strategy to differentiate Deezer, as we launch a range of innovative features focused on driving increased value and engagement among younger audiences. We have launched new customization features like playlist cover customization, a fully customizable favorite tab, and enhanced algorithm control tools such as Dislike or Algo Settings to give users even more control over their listening experience. We also introduced MyDeezer Launch and universal sharing, helping fans better understand and celebrate their unique music playlists with friends. We have deepened fan artist connections via the Deezer Club, offering exclusive access, presale, and VIP experiences with more than 1 million contest entries over the past 12 months. These initiatives are already delivering results, as our direct subscriber base grew 8% year-over-year in France at the end of Q2. Moving on to slide 9.
In the first half, Deezer took a big step forward in AI and launched the world's first AI music tagging system for music streaming, reinforcing our strong commitment to transparency and fairness in the digital music space and setting a new standard for the music industry. Our analysis shows that nearly 18% of music uploaded daily, more than 20,000 tracks, is fully AI-generated. By clearly tagging all albums that include AI-generated content, we are giving fans full visibility while protecting artist remuneration and ensuring a trusted listening experience. Besides, Deezer played a key role in the first update to publishing rights remuneration models since the dawn of music streaming with its collaboration with Success. This reflects, again, our ongoing commitment to fairness in the artist remuneration model and the fight against royalty fraud. Moving on to slide 10.
On the partnership front, we are delivering on two key priorities: strengthening our core distribution partnerships and expanding our service offering into new verticals. First, we reinforced our existing distribution partnership in the first half, revealing a major long-term agreement with Orange and Free, demonstrating our ability to maintain a strong, lasting relationship. We also extended our core offering to new market partners like Molotov TV and Fitness Park in the retail space, building on what we do best. Also, we expanded our white label and musical resales offers. We renewed our partnership with Sonos in the U.S. and are ramping up Deezer business, our new music solution for brands and commercial spaces. Recently claimed clients include Converse and UGC, who can now create tailored music experiences for their customers. This concludes the section on business highlights, and now I will hand it over to Carl for the finance section.
Thank you, Alexis, and good morning, everyone. Let's discuss our H1 2025 results and move to slide 12. Our subscriber base amounted to 9.2 million at H1 2025, compared to 10 million in H1 2024 on a like-for-like basis. Two separate trends explain this figure. On the right-hand side, as anticipated, we can see the continued decline in partnership subscribers. This is mainly due to the conversion of the first cohorts from trial accounts to premium accounts. After hitting a high in H1 2024, we started converting in Q3 2024, impacting the overall partnership subscriber base. That being said, we reached 3.9 million subscribers in H1 2025, up from 3.6 million in H1 2023. Despite the decline, we remain ahead of past levels. On the left-hand side, we can notice the positive trend in direct, up 5.5% year-over-year on a like-for-like basis.
Direct performance continues to be driven by steady subscriber growth in France over the past semesters. In 2025, we saw a clear acceleration from the last two quarters, up 6.3% at the end of Q1 and ending at 8.2% year-over-year on a like-for-like basis. Strong momentum reflects our strategic focus on core markets like France and confirms the early positive impact of our new strategic roadmap, driving user engagement. Looking at the rest of the world, the trend is now stabilizing after several quarters of decline at 1.8 million subscribers. This base is now profitable, even without new marketing spend. Turning to ARPU, we improved ARPU in partnerships by 3.6% year-over-year on a like-for-like basis, while direct ARPU slightly decreased by 1.8% year-over-year, mostly due to mixed effects on the back of the success of our family offers. Moving on to slide 13.
In the first half of 2025, we reported revenue of EUR 267.1 million, up 1.3% year-over-year at constant currency and broadly stable at current rates. Looking at the segment breakdown on the left-hand side of the slide, our direct revenue grew by 1.2%, reflecting the continued growth of our subscriber base in France. Other revenues, which mainly include advertising and ancillary revenues, grew by a strong 77%, thanks in particular to the strong performance of our white label offerings. This growth more than offsets the antecedent decline in partnerships revenue, primarily due to the transition of Mediaplus users to premium offers, as previously mentioned. Now, turning to the geographic view on the right-hand side of the slide, in France, revenue increased by 4% year-over-year, supported by the solid momentum in direct subscription. In the rest of the world, revenue declined by 6.2%, largely due to many impacts.
This was partially offset by the gradual ramp-up of the RTL partnerships, as well as good traction from licensing agreements, including Zen by Deezer and Sonos Radio. Moving on to slide 14. In the first half of the year, we maintained a disciplined approach to cost control, which allowed us to reduce our operating expenses by over EUR 6 million year-over-year. We achieved a EUR 3 million reduction in marketing and trial spend by targeting our investments more efficiently. As a result, marketing expenses represented 7.1% of revenue, down from 8.1% in H1 2024. In parallel, staff and G&A expenses were reduced by EUR 3 million, now accounting for 16.6% of our revenues compared to 17.9% a year ago. This strong cost discipline was a key contributor to the improvement in our operational performance over that period. Moving on to slide 15.
Now, let's look at the significant progress we've made in improving profitability. In the first half of 2025, we delivered a strong uplift in adjusted EBITDA, reaching EUR 2.1 million, which is an improvement of EUR 7.1 million year-over-year compared to H1 2024. This marks our second consecutive semester of positive adjusted EBITDA, and this confirms the structural trend in the improvement of Deezer's financial profile. Looking at the bridge on this slide, the key drivers behind this performance were a EUR 1 million increase in gross profits, supported in part by the positive contribution of our white label offerings for hardware and media partners, and also our continued cost discipline with EUR 6 million in operating expense reduction during the first half. Together, these levers have enabled us to significantly improve profitability without compromising on our strategic investment. Moving on to slide 16. Now, turning to our cash position.
At the end of June 2025, we maintained a robust cash position of EUR 60 million, with net cash of EUR 48.2 million, which is up EUR 1 million versus the end of 2024. Looking at the bridge, this performance reflects a positive contribution from adjusted EBITDA, EUR 2 million, and a EUR 1 million improvement in working capital. This chart clearly highlights the benefits of our low CapEx model, along with limited leave liabilities and low net interest expense, all of which contributed to the strength of our financial profile. Importantly, our cash position also factors the EUR 3 million repayment of the French state-guaranteed loan during the period. This solid liquidity position gives us the flexibility to continue executing on our strategy while maintaining our financial discipline. I will now let Alexis conclude the 2025 outlook.
Thank you, Carl. Let's move to slide 18. Looking ahead to the rest of 2025, we reaffirmed our full-year guidance. From a revenue perspective, following a year of strong growth in fiscal year 2024, and with no expected increase in ARPU, we confirmed flat to slightly declining revenue year-over-year. On the bottom line, we reconfirmed our target of delivering positive adjusted EBITDA in 2025. Achieving a positive EBITDA in H1, despite the flat top line, clearly demonstrated the resilience and scalability of our model and strengthened our confidence in delivering the same performance for the full year. We also expect to generate positive free cash flow in 2025, marking our second consecutive year of positive cash generation, a key milestone on our journey towards sustainable profitability.
From a strategic standpoint, we'll continue to execute on our roadmap in H2, with proactive product launches and new business models, while maintaining a disciplined and focused approach. 2025 is a pivotal year, a year of innovation that lays the foundations for the next phase of profitable long-term growth. Thank you for your attention. Carl and I will now open to questions.
Thank you. That is in German. If you wish to ask a question, please signal by pressing star one. The first question is from Silvia Cuneo from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.
Thanks. Good morning, everyone. A few questions from my side. The first is on strategic initiatives. The Deezer Club is delivering exclusive access and experiences. How do you plan to monetize these? I am just wondering if you expect this to contribute to revenue in the medium term, so not only fan engagements. Beyond the Deezer Club, what other initiatives do you have planned for the rest of this year to engage the super fans? Secondly, on the AI music tagging system, can you give more color about where this AI-generated music originates? Is it primarily from platforms like Suno and Udio? How do you define the 100% AI music? Does this classification mean that the tracks receive no royalties at all, even if they become popular? Final question on the profitability.
On the gross profit, we noticed an improvement that's largely driven by the other segment, while the direct and partnership segments saw a little bit of a contraction. Can you talk about the factors behind these? Thank you.
Thank you for your questions. I will take the first one. Indeed, Deezer Club monetization is driving significant engagement from our users, with 1 million applying to different contests that enable them to win private access to events. As this is on a contest basis, it's obviously free, I mean, part of the premium subscription. You have to be a premium member. Our core focus here is retention. We are in the business of retention. That's the most valuable activity to do, to retain the existing users we have. That's really the objective of the Deezer Club. We are working on solutions for super fans and connecting artists with super fans that could come as an additional fee, but we don't have yet anything to announce on that front. On the AI tagging topic, I think you're right. The question of how you define AI music is not 100% straightforward.
We've been very clear on the definition for us. It's the songs that are 100% created by AI, just with a prompt, and that are coming from the apps that you mentioned. There are a few dozen of them. Basically, the way it works is that we train our algorithm on those specific apps and we identify those songs. That's how it's trained, and that's the definition of what we call AI. It's 100% AI. As soon as artists are creating and adapting and so on, then it's not considered as 100% AI. To your point of whether it is popular, I think what is maybe reassuring for the music industry is that right now we don't see a lot of popularity from those songs, but it could happen. We are, first and foremost, a consumer platform.
We want to make sure that anyone will be able to access the full catalog of worldwide music through Deezer. Those songs are indeed available on Deezer. We want transparency to also protect the music industry and the artists. That's why we're labeling the songs that are 100% AI, but there is nothing preventing people that want to listen to them from listening to them. I would hand it over to Carl for your last question.
Thank you, Alexis. On the gross margin, you're right. The improvement in gross profit in H1 2025 was largely supported by the strong performance of the other segments, notably our white label offerings. I think this reflects the successful execution of our strategy to diversify our revenue streams. Meanwhile, the gross margin in direct and partnership declined slightly. This was driven by a few factors, especially a mixed effect in direct, especially the increasing share of our distribution channels through app stores, which have slightly lower contribution margins, but where we're seeing very good traction from a commercial standpoint, as well as one-off impacts. Overall, we think those impacts would be leveled off in H2, so we are very confident about our gross margin.
Thank you.
Thank you. We invite all the attendees connected on the webcast to submit your questions using the webcast platform. At the moment, we have no further questions on the phone lines. We'll pause for just a moment to allow you time to submit your questions on the webcast. Thank you. That is in German. You may submit your questions on the webcast platform. Just locate the Q&A tab, type in your question, and click send. Meanwhile, we have a follow-up question from Silvia Cuneo from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.
Thanks. In the meantime, I just have another question on the sustainability of the cost savings benefiting your adjusted EBITDA. Operating expenses decreased by EUR 6 million in H1. How confident are you that these cost savings are sustainable into the second half of the year? Are there areas where you can increase the cost savings? Anything that can help us think about the margin progression in H2 would be helpful. Thanks.
Sure. I'll take that one. On the cost reduction, what we delivered in H1 2025 is not a result of one-off costs, but rather the outcome of deliberate and structural adjustment aligned with our new strategic priorities. We are constantly streamlining our operations, focusing our investment on the most efficient channels, and realigning our resources to support our scalable initiatives like, for instance, what we refer to as white labeling, personalization, etc. Our marketing and G&A reduction really reflect increased discipline and better targeting, not an underinvestment. While some fluctuation may occur, depending on our growth dynamics, we're very confident our overall cost base is now more efficient, better aligned with long-term profitability objectives, and clearly a path that we are going to continue to drive efficiency.
Thank you. It appears there are currently no further questions on the webcast and neither on the phone lines. With this, I'd like to hand the call back over to Alexis Lanternier for closing remarks.
Thanks, everyone, for joining.
Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation, ladies and gentlemen. You may now disconnect.