MultiChoice continues to grow
MultiChoice continues to grow. Simply, you cannot bet against live sports in Africa. With no alternative, there is nothing that will stop Africans renewing their MultiChoice contracts, Netflix or no-Netflix.
In its maiden results following its successful listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on 27 February, the MultiChoice Group (MCG) reported a 12% increase in its subscriber base to 15.1 million. Revenue increased 6% to R50.1 billion and trading profit 11% (or 27% organically) to R7.0 billion. This was underpinned by solid subscriber growth, as well as an ongoing focus on cost containment. Core headline earnings, the board’s measure of sustainable business performance, was up 10% to R1.8 billion and consolidated free cash flow doubled to R3.3 billion.
This year also marks the first time that the Rest of Africa (RoA) subscriber base of 7.7 million exceeded the 7.4 million households in South Africa. Sustained efforts to grow the Connected Video segment and position the business for the future, resulted in good uptake in Showmax and DStv Now services – as a result, online [OTT] subscribers doubled year-on-year (YoY). (press statement)
But do not hold that breathe for long: the company is cutting excess of 2,000 jobs as it plays to redesign the business.
The 2194 employees affected by the restructure come from MultiChoice’s customer care (call centre) and walk-in centre.
The pay-television operator said the restructure was part of the strategic realignment of its customer service delivery model, as customers preferred engaging “digitally” with the company