DStv operator MultiChoice Group said in a financial report for the six months ended September 2020, that it exceeded the 20 million subscriber milestone for the first time.<\/p>\n
The group added 1.2 million 90-day active subscribers year-on-year (YoY), to close the period on 20.1 million households. The customer base is split between 11.4 million households (57%) in the Rest of Africa (RoA) and 8.7 million (43%) in South Africa.<\/p>\n
Core headline earnings were up 41% on the prior period at R2.7 billion, with the strong growth attributable to a 38% improvement in organic trading profit and lower net realised foreign exchange losses, it said.<\/p>\n
Headline earnings per ordinary share climbed 68% to 572 cents per share, while operating profit was up 17% to R5.77 billion.<\/p>\n
The trading profit impact of Covid-19 was largely neutral, as a R900 million revenue loss relating to lower advertising income and subscription revenues from commercial customers was offset by R800 million in delayed content costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite operating in a challenging environment and being affected by lockdowns, production stoppages and disruptions to live sport, we delivered on all key metrics,\u201d said Calvo Mawela, MCG chief executive officer.<\/p>\n
\u201cA strong focus on cost reduction allowed for a further R1 billion in cost savings during the period. We also narrowed the losses in the Rest of Africa by 59% year-on-year to R338 million.\u201d<\/p>\n
Revenue increased 2% (-1% organic) to R26.1 billion, with subscription revenues of R22.2 billion increasing 5% (3% organic) YoY.<\/p>\n
Top line momentum was significantly impacted by Covid-19, the group said. Advertising revenue declined R572 million YoY, mainly due to a lack of sports advertising and a generally softer advertising market resulting from lower economic activity.<\/p>\n
Excluding the impact of Covid-19, MultiChoice said that revenue would have grown 6% YoY.<\/p>\n
The group said it continued its strategic focus of investing in local content and produced 1,870 additional hours, despite disruptions caused by strict early Covid-19 lockdown measures. The local content library is now close to 59,000 hours.<\/p>\n