MultiChoice Group Limited

For FY25, group revenue was ZAR 50.8 billion, up 1% organically and down 9% reported. Reported trading profit was ZAR 4 billion, versus ZAR 7.9 billion last year, while organic trading profit was ZAR 7.2 billion, down 9% year on year; trading profit before investments and foreign exchange was up 20% year on year. Adjusted core headline earnings were a loss of ZAR 800 million, down ZAR 2.1 billion year on year, and free cash flow was a net outflow of ZAR 516 million. Active subscribers declined 8% to 14.5 million, with South Africa at 7 million and the rest of Africa at 7.5 million; blended ARPU rose 4% in South Africa but fell from $9 to $8 in the rest of Africa. Management guided to FY26 priorities of mid-20s trading margins in South Africa, restoring the rest of Africa to profitability, reducing Showmax losses, and at least ZAR 2 billion of cost savings.

Calvo Mawela framed FY25 as a difficult year marked by a stressed consumer environment, power issues, and currency weakness, but said the business responded decisively with cost efficiencies and new growth engines. He emphasized the long-term opportunity in Africa, the shift toward streaming and aggregation, and MultiChoice’s efforts to build a broader entertainment platform beyond linear TV. He also highlighted the CANAL+ transaction as strategically important, noting the Competition Commission’s positive recommendation and saying the company is working to complete the deal in the not-too-distant future.

Tim Jacobs said the financials were hit by weak subscriber growth, the full-year impact of naira depreciation, and Showmax investment costs expensed through the income statement. He pointed to ZAR 3.7 billion of sustainable cost savings, South Africa trading profit of ZAR 9.4 billion with a 28.6% margin, and Rest of Africa organic trading profit of ZAR 2.3 billion before foreign exchange losses turned it into a ZAR 800 million reported loss. He also highlighted a ZAR 5.1 billion cash balance, ZAR 3 billion of undrawn facilities, debt of ZAR 11.1 billion, leverage of 2.2x, and a lowered South Africa dividend of ZAR 1.65 billion to preserve balance-sheet flexibility.

Analysts focused on pricing, decoder subsidies, Showmax costs, subscriber trends, the timing of regulatory approvals for CANAL+, and the dividend cut. Management said pricing should generally track inflation, decoder subsidy reductions differ by market conditions, and Showmax costs include some start-up spend but are not sustainable at current levels; they are looking to cut costs materially this year. On subscribers, management said trends were better year on year and that lower subsidies are intended to favor more durable, higher-value customers; on the deal, they said approvals are progressing and they remain confident of meeting the 8 October 2025 long-stop date.