Independent British company Beggars Group enjoyed a pre-tax profit rise of 46% last year on sales of £74m. A princely sum from the sale of its Spotify stake, half of which was passed on to artists, awarded Chairman Martin Mills an £8m dividend.
For the year ending Dec. 31 2018, Beggars Group turned over £74.2m in sales from 36 releases. Gross profit (before expenses and tax) hit just under £12m—a rise of 46% from 2017’s £8.2m.
Fifty percent of proceeds from the sale of its shares in Spotify were given to Beggars signed artists, both past and present, with 44% being paid out after recoupment. The accounts note that "certain other companies apparently distributed these revenues based on the artist royalty rate, meaning they would have paid out a far lower percentage irrespective of recoupment."
