Feb 4 (Reuters) - Spotify ( SPOT ) forecast first-quarter profit

above market estimates on Tuesday as the Swedish audio-streaming

giant benefits from steady user growth, price hikes and a

cost-cutting drive.

The company expects operating income of 548 million

euros ($566.19 million) in the current quarter, above analysts'

average estimate of 450.6 million euros, according to data

compiled by LSEG.

It increased prices for its service in June last year and

has kept a tight lid on costs including marketing efforts to

boost margins.

At the same time, its focus on music and podcast video

offerings has helped attract users, analysts have said. Spotify ( SPOT )

has extended a test rollout of its music videos to new markets

and unveiled new features that help improve user-engagement for

content creators in certain markets.

The company forecast monthly active users (MAUs) of 678

million in the first quarter, in line with estimates of 679.4

million. It expects to add about 2 million premium subscribers,

which would take the total to 265 million, above Visible Alpha

estimates of 263.2 million.

In the fourth quarter, premium subscribers rose 11% to 263

million, compared with Visible Alpha estimates of 260 million.

MAUs rose 12% to 675 million and exceeded expectations.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose 16% to 4.24 billion euros,

beating estimates of 4.19 billion euros, driven by subscriber

gains and increasing average revenue per user.

Gross profit jumped 40% to 1.37 billion euros, compared with

estimates of 1.32 billion euros. Gross profit margin increased

to 32.2% from 31.1% in prior quarter.

The company expects first-quarter revenue of 4.2 billion

euros, slightly above estimates of 4.17 billion euros.

($1 = 0.9679 euros)

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna

Chandra Eluri and Mrigank Dhaniwala)