[ad_1]
MultiChoice, Africa’s leading pay-TV provider, reported a third consecutive semi-annual loss, attributing its financial challenges to foreign exchange difficulties in Nigeria and persistent power outages in South Africa.
In a filing on Wednesday, Africa’s largest pay-tv company disclosed a net loss of 1.32 billion rand ($72.4m) for the six months ending September 30.
The loss was linked to the Nigerian naira’s weak performance against the US dollar; following a 40 per cent devaluation after Nigeria allowed the naira to trade more freely in mid-June.
The firm said it was influenced by inflationary pressures in key markets like Nigeria and typical trends following a FIFA World Cup or Northern Hemisphere football off-season.
“A total of 0.1m subscribers were added to end the period at 13.0m 90-day active subscribers. The active subscriber base was broadly stable at 8.9 million subscribers and subscription revenues grew 14 per cent organically.
“Revenue of ZAR10.5bn was flat (+13 per cent organic) with a weaker ZAR against the USD on conversion, offsetting the impact of weaker local currencies relative to the USD.
“The RoA (return on assets) segment delivered a trading profit of ZAR330m (+ZAR2.2bn YoY on an organic basis) which was underpinned by specific cost interventions around decoder subsidies and content costs.”
According to the firm, weaker currencies remained a significant impediment to improvements in profitability, with average first-half exchanges falling sharply against the dollar.
“The sharp fall of the naira resulted in a large proportion of the previously recognised losses incurred on cash remittances now being recorded in trading profit.
“The net effect of these forex movements was a negative ZAR1.6bn impact on the segment’s trading profit for the period,” it stated.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]
[ad_2]