Universal Music Group N.V. Reports Financial Results for the Second Quarter and Half Year Ended June 30, 2026

Universal Music Group N.V. Reports Financial Results for the Second Quarter and Half Year Ended June 30, 2026 PR Newswire

Q2 2026 Results Highlights(1) * Revenue of €3,294 million grew 10.5% year-over-year, or 13.3% in constant currency, with the consolidation of Downtown Music Holdings ("Downtown"), pricing benefits of Streaming 2.0 agreements, strong physical and licensing and other sales, and healthy performance revenue amongst the key contributors to growth in Recorded Music and Music Publishing. * Recorded Music subscription revenue grew 14.3% year-over-year, or 16.6% in constant currency, benefitting from the consolidation of Downtown, as well as from pricing benefits of Streaming 2.0 agreements. * Adjusted EBITDA of €674 million declined 0.3% year-over-year, but increased 1.5% in constant currency driven by revenue growth, while Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 2.2pp to 20.5% due to the consolidation of Downtown, pressure from revenue and repertoire mix in Recorded Music, and a loss in Merchandising. * Top sellers included Noah Kahan, BTS, Olivia Rodrigo, Drake and Olivia Dean. H1 2026 Results Highlights(1) * Revenue of €6,194 million increased 5.3% year-over-year, or 10.8% in constant currency, driven by the consolidation of Downtown, and underlying growth in the Recorded Music and Music Publishing segments. * Recorded Music revenue grew 6.8% year-over-year, or 12.7% in constant currency and Music Publishing grew 3.8% year-over-year, or 8.4% in constant currency, both benefitting from the consolidation of Downtown, while Merchandising and Other revenue declined 12.1%, or 7.6% in constant currency. * Recorded Music subscription revenue grew 9.0% year-over-year, or 14.5% in constant currency, and streaming revenue grew 2.4% year-over-year, or 8.3% in constant currency, helped by the consolidation of Downtown. * Adjusted EBITDA of €1,310 million decreased 1.9% year-over-year, but increased 2.7% in constant currency, and Adjusted EBITDA margin contracted 1.6pp to 21.1% largely due to the consolidation of Downtown. * EPS was €0.12 per share compared to €0.78 in the first half of 2025 with the decline largely due to variance in revaluation of investments in listed and other companies. Adjusted diluted EPS of €0.47 per share declined 1.7% year-over-year, but grew 4.3% in constant currency. * 2026 interim dividend of €0.24 per share, in line with the 2025 interim dividend. (1 This press release includes certain alternative performance indicators which are not defined in the IFRS Accounting Standards ('IFRS') issued by the International Accounting Standards Board as endorsed by the EU. The descriptions of these alternative performance indicators and reconciliations of non-IFRS to IFRS measures are included in the Interim Financial Review and Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements which is available on our website at investors.universalmusic.com/reports.)