{"id":861714,"date":"2026-05-30T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=861714"},"modified":"2026-05-29T13:58:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T11:58:41","slug":"warning-over-dstv-owners-next-move-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/861714\/warning-over-dstv-owners-next-move-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning over DStv-owner’s next move in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ahead of Canal+’s upcoming listing on the JSE in June, market analysts warn that the broadcaster is facing significant challenges in turnaround and integration following its acquisition of MultiChoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, Canal+ completed its acquisition of MultiChoice, the owner of DStv, for over R50 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, MultiChoice was delisted from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and is now reported under Canal+\u2019s financial results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The French broadcaster noted that while MultiChoice experienced strong growth from 2010 to 2023, it has encountered significant challenges since then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These challenges stem from various macroeconomic factors, including load shedding, the devaluation of the Naira, rising inflation, a difficult transition to over-the-top (OTT) services, and the costly failure of Showmax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address the situation, Canal+ stated that MultiChoice implemented short-term measures, including reducing subscriber-acquisition subsidies and increasing prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, these actions negatively impacted its subscriber base, exacerbating existing profitability issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, MultiChoice’s total subscriber base fell from 14.9 million in 2024 to 14.4 million in 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This decline contributed to a 6% decrease in MultiChoice\u2019s revenues, which dropped from \u20ac2,542 million (approximately R48 billion at current exchange rates) in 2024 to \u20ac2,400 million (R45 billion) in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, MultiChoice\u2019s adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) decreased by 14%, from \u20ac185 million (R3.5 billion) in 2024 to \u20ac159 million (R3 billion), prior to the positive effects of the purchase price allocation (PPA) resulting from the 2025 acquisition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canal+ said that cost-cutting initiatives helped to partially offset the adverse effects of the revenue decline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cash flow from operating activities increased from \u20ac138 million (R2.6 billion) in 2024 to \u20ac226 million (R4.28 billion) in 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, free cash flow (before exceptional items) improved from -\u20ac56 million (-R1.06 billion) in 2024 to -\u20ac42 million (-R796 million) in 2025, aided by various deferred payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not a growth stock<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Protea Capital Management CEO Jean Pierre Verster told Business Day TV<\/a> that the global pay-TV industry is a mature market under pressure, and that Canal+ faces immediate challenges it needs to address following its acquisition of MultiChoice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Within MultiChoice, they have some issues that they need to sort out. So, no, I do not see it as a growth business, and I do not necessarily see it as a great opportunity just because it will be listed on the JSE,” said Verster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It will give people more choice, which is a positive, but it might be an opportunity to go long or go short when it finally lists on the JSE,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the real benefit for Canal+ was buying MultiChoice, but more specifically, MultiChoice South Africa,\u201d said MP9 Asset Management Chief Investment Officer Aheesh Singh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singh said that MultiChoice South Africa has maintained EBITDA margins of around 20% over the last five years, and it is a cash business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He noted that, compared with Canal+, MultiChoice\u2019s operating margins are significantly lower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey do have a lot of turnaround work to do regarding MultiChoice as a group in Africa and integrating all their systems,\u201d said Singh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both analysts acknowledged that Canal+ might not be a growth stock and that there may be better investment opportunities available in the current market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Market analysts warn that DStv’s new owner, Canal+, is facing significant challenges in turnaround and integration following its acquisition of MultiChoice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":861723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[25500,6633,78,19967,1253],"class_list":["post-861714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-aheesh-singh","tag-canal","tag-dstv","tag-jean-pierre-verster","tag-multichoice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861714"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":861961,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861714\/revisions\/861961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}