Truecaller to cut 70 jobs as ad revenue plunges 44%

Truecaller is cutting about 70 jobs as a steep slide in advertising revenue puts fresh pressure on one of Sweden’s best-known consumer-tech companies. The restructuring, set for the second quarter, comes after ad revenue fell 44% in the first quarter of 2026 and pushed net sales down 27% to SEK 361.6 million.

The company said the shake-up will carry a one-off cost of about SEK 23 million in the second quarter, but it expects the move, together with earlier efficiency steps, to leave staff costs excluding incentive costs at least 20% lower from the third quarter than in the first quarter. That kind of savings target underscores how quickly a business built on consumer scale can be forced to reset when digital advertising weakens.

Truecaller’s numbers show just how concentrated the pain was. In constant currencies, ad revenue still fell 34% and net sales fell 16%, while advertising made up 52% of total sales. India remained the company’s largest market, accounting for 59% of net sales, but India sales fell 41% in the quarter, showing how heavily Truecaller still depends on a single geography even as it tries to broaden its base.

The company has been warning about the slump since December 2025, when it said the weakness began in mid-August after an algorithm change by its largest demand partner and a softer ad market in India. At the time, it guided fourth-quarter 2025 ad revenue to SEK 210 million to SEK 230 million, or about a 30% decline in constant currencies, and said it was revising its ad strategy to reduce dependence on specific partners and markets, grow outside India and expand direct sales and reseller ties.

There were some offsets. Recurring revenues rose to 47% of net sales, consumer subscription revenue increased 37% in SEK terms and 52% in constant currencies, and monthly active users grew by 9 million during the quarter. Truecaller for Business, however, fell 25% in SEK terms, or 8% in constant currencies, limiting the benefit from that diversification.

Chief executive Rishit Jhunhjunwala said Truecaller would soon reach 500 million users, but the latest quarter suggests scale alone is not enough if ad pricing weakens. For ad-driven consumer-tech businesses, the message is clear: audience growth can coexist with revenue pressure, and when the ad market turns, headcount and margins often follow.