The owner of MultiChoice, Canal+, reported on Thursday that the company's revenue in South Africa continues to fall. Over nine months ending in September, MultiChoice's revenue decreased by 3% in comparable terms, driven by a reduction in subscription income specifically in South Africa.
Nevertheless, the decline slowed in the third quarter, amounting to only 2% year-on-year, compared to 3.4% in the first half of the year. Canal+ attributed this partly to 'favorable comparison effects related to the composition of sports events.' The drop in South Africa was partially offset by higher revenues in most other English-speaking MultiChoice markets.
According to the report, MultiChoice's revenue increased by 0.4% to reach 1.81 billion euros, which, according to Canal+, 'benefited noticeably from a significant positive currency effect.' Canal+ did not disclose subscriber numbers, noting that the company's subscriber base in Africa and Asia 'normalized' in the third quarter, as expected after significant growth driven by the FIFA World Cup in the first half of the year.
Canal+'s CEO, Maxim Saada, stated that a new, simplified value model was launched in South Africa in September, providing subscribers with more content, greater choice, and a better price-to-quality ratio while maintaining the same cost. He added that the introduction of new offers will continue in the coming months in English and Portuguese-speaking African countries.
The relaunch on September 17 replaced the Access, Family, and Compact packages with Starter, Select, and Sports, and also added the Movies & Series package below Premium. Since this occurred two weeks before the end of the quarter, the figures do not yet provide a clear picture of the effectiveness of this measure. Saada also noted that Canal+ is making 'good progress within the MultiChoice transformation plan,' mentioning exclusive rights to all UEFA men's club competitions in over 40 African countries from 2027 to 2031, as well as rights to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations and its qualifying rounds.
Group revenue remained stable
Canal+'s group revenue grew by 37.5% to 6.41 billion euros, reflecting the consolidation of MultiChoice, but in comparable terms, it remained unchanged, decreasing by 0.3%. Excluding MultiChoice, revenue increased by 1.3%, supported by a 'strong momentum' in French-speaking Africa.
The group stated that it remains on track to achieve synergies of 250 million euros this year, as well as to meet the full-year forecast for stable revenue and adjusted EBITDA of 735 million euros. A footnote mentions that the streaming service Showmax, which was closed at the end of April, generated 33 million euros in revenue for the first nine months of 2025 and 10 million euros in the third quarter of the same year. MultiChoice reported a trading loss for Showmax of 4.9 billion rand for the year ending March 2025.