(Reuters) -The world’s largest record label Universal Music Group on Wednesday posted a better than expected second quarter core profit margin, boosted by strong sales from artists including Taylor Swift and South Korea’s SEVENTEEN.
The strong performance “enables us to accelerate our strategy to promote a healthier streaming business”, the company’s chief executive Lucian Grainge said in a statement.
Universal Music’s quarterly margin on adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to 21.9%, from 20.0% a year earlier, the group said in a statement.
Adjusted EBITDA rose by 16.4% to 590 million euros ($653 million), higher than a company-provided consensus of 547 million euros.
Universal Music reported revenues of 2.7 billion euros in the quarter, helped by a 10.6% yearly rise in recorded music subscriptions, the company added.
Apart from Taylor Swift and South Korean boy band SEVENTEEN, other top sellers in the second quarter were King & Prince, Morgan Wallen, and Stray Kids, Universal Music said.
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($1 = 0.9030 euros)
(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Toby Chopra and Barbara Lewis)