Spotify reaches 777m users as growth warning hits shares

Spotify said Tuesday it had 777 million monthly active users at the end of June, up 16 million from the previous quarter, but warned that growth would slow in the third quarter.

The Swedish streaming company said it expected about 11 million new net subscribers in the third quarter. Spotify shares were down 2.6 percent in opening trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Spotify registered 300 million paying subscribers in the quarter, seven million more than in the previous quarter. Quarterly operating profit rose 61 percent from a year earlier to 655 million euros, or $754 million.

Revenue rose 14 percent to 4.8 billion euros, in line with the company's expectations.

Alex Norstrom, Spotify's co-chief executive, said the earnings reflected “a business that is healthy and compounding”.

Spotify recently launched “Personal Podcasts”, short AI-generated podcasts tailored to individual users. It also plans to allow paying subscribers who are artists' most dedicated fans to buy concert tickets before official ticket sales begin.