MultiChoice faces subscriber exodus as annual losses mount
MultiChoice faces headwinds as it loses subscribers.
Image: File
Entertainment company MultiChoice, releasing its results for the year ended March 31, 2025, disclosed a loss of 2.8 million active linear subscribers in the past two financial years.
In the reporting period linear subscribers were down 1.2m, or 8%, to 14.5m active subscribers, with the loss evenly split between South African (0.6m) and Rest of Africa (0.6m). The group said although reflecting an improvement on 2024 trends, "this indicates ongoing broad-based pressure across the group's entire customer base".
"The past two financial years have been a period of significant financial disruption for economies, corporates and consumers across sub-Saharan Africa due to challenging macro-economic factors. Combined with the impact of structural industry changes in video entertainment such as the rise of piracy, streaming services and social media, this has materially affected the overall performance of the MultiChoice Group," it said.
On a more positive note, active paying Showmax subscribers rose by 44% YoY, demonstrating strong growth and regional market share gains.
However, MultiChoice also faced financial headwinds in the form of a R10.2 billion impact from local currency depreciation against the US dollar.
The company's adjusted core headline earnings, which reflect underlying business performance, swung to a loss of R0.8 billion from a profit of R1.3bn in 2024. This was mainly driven by reduced trading profit and hedging losses in 2025, which were in contrast to gains reported in the previous year.
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Group revenue for the period fell by 9% to R50.8bn, primarily driven by an 11% decline in subscription revenues, which was partially offset by price increases and new product offerings, including DStv Internet, DStv Stream, and Extra Stream.
Profit Declines Amid Operational Efficiencies
Trading profit saw a sharp decline of 49% to R4bn. This downturn was largely attributed to a R2.3bn organic increase in Showmax's trading losses and R5.2bn in foreign currency revenue losses. However, these losses were mitigated by the significant cost-saving measures implemented by management.
Free cash flow also turned negative, with an outflow of R0.5bn in 2025, compared to an inflow of R0.6bn in 2024. The cash flow was negatively impacted by lower profitability and higher lease repayments, though it was partially offset by improved working capital management and a 29% year on year reduction in capital expenditure.
In the face of financial disruption the company said it kept a focus on inflationary pricing discipline. In South Africa, price increases were maintained at 5.7% for 2025 (up from 5.6% in 2024), while in the Rest of Africa, local currency price hikes averaged 31%, compared to 27% in the previous financial year. These price adjustments allowed the group to weather subscriber volume declines and achieve a modest 1% year-on-year organic revenue growth for the period.
Further operational efficiencies also helped offset financial pressures, with the group achieving R3.7bn in cost savings - substantially exceeding its initial target of R2bn, and nearly double the R1.9bn saved in 2024. Despite these savings, the group reported a 9% decline in organic trading profit, largely due to increased operating costs related to Showmax during its peak investment year.
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