Multichoice profit falls ahead of Showmax reboot
NOVEMBER 15, 2023 13.23 EUROPE/LONDON BY JULIAN CLOVER

South African pay-tv operator Multichoice has recorded a 5% drop in half year profits hit by weak currencies, losses at the Showmax streaming business, and a reduced contribution from a domestic market hit by power cuts and the removal of non-paying subscribers.

“We remain focused on developing our leading entertainment platform that caters for consumer needs across sub-Saharan Africa, on leveraging our footprint to build a differentiated ecosystem and on developing additional revenue streams,” said Chief Executive Officer. Calvo Mawela.

Subscriber numbers fell by 2% to 21.7 million (over a 90 day period). However, the success of South Africa in the Rugby World Cup helped grow premium subscribers by 5%.

Earnings of R1.9 billion in the six months to September 30 were down from R2 billion in 2022.

The relaunch of Showmax, following the conclusion of the agreement with Comcast (owners of NBCUniversal, Sky and Peacock), is now slated for the second half of the financial year. The company is confident this will lead to a doubling of its customer base and deliver an additional USD1bn revenue in the medium term.

Showmax saw its active subscriber base increase by 13% YoY, resulting in revenues growing 46% to R0.6 billion.

Irdeto grew by 17%, though also suffered from the weakness of the Rand against the US dollar. Its Keystone product line is performing well, however the technology company has also been through a restructuring in its the core media security business.