Latest news with #R10.2bn
TimesLIVE
16-07-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
City Power targets Joburg business properties with R10.2bn debt
City Power has targeted non-paying business properties in Johannesburg that owe the electricity provider R10.2bn. City Power spokesperson, Isaac Mangena told TimesLIVE that the revenue collection will not only assist the department but also assist the community to get service delivery and improved infrastructure. A debt-collection drive was led on Wednesday by acting mayor Jack Sekwaila. The drive, which included City Power and Johannesburg Water, focused business properties and residential properties in Marshalltown. 'In Marshalltown alone we are owed R93m which makes it R10bn owed across the city,' he said. Mangena said they plan to recover debt to ensure they are able to sustain service delivery to residents . 'We cannot continue to sustain the city when property owners and businesses fail to meet us halfway,' he said. He added that businesses who generate profit should pay for the services they are using. 'Some buildings are taken over and others we are unable to identify their owners and it leads to an impact on City Power because such properties will connect to the network illegally leading to overloading of electricity,' Mangena said. Region F is the highest debtor region with R244m debt. The debt collection is aimed at revenue recovery and ensuring the municipality's financial sustainability. 'Marshaltown has 70 accounts with R93m debt, Fordsburg has 93 accounts with R65m debt and Doornfontein has 56 accounts with R86m debt. All of these accounts have been prioritised for disconnection this week to recover the money', Sekwaila said. Sekwaila added that the collection would be handled in two phases through to December. 'Phase 1 will end by July and phase 2 starts in August. This brings residents time to comply with us and urgently make arrangements to pay their accounts,' he added. A manager of a building providing student accommodation, Collen Sibiya, was shocked to discover that the property owes R2.4m for electricity. Sibiya said he was not aware of the amount and it would be an inconvenience for the students who live in the building. ' . 'According to the documents I have, our account is in order and we do pay on time. I am just surprised that we were supposed to pay for the previous owner's account.'
The Citizen
12-06-2025
- Business
- The Citizen
Another year, another decline in DStv subscribers: Will Canal+ be buying a shell?
'Over this period, the group lost 2.8 million active linear subscribers and had to absorb a R10.2bn negative impact on its topline due to local currency depreciation against the US dollar.' Multichoice Group, parent company to DStv, has recorded another year of decline in subscribers. The announcement of another decline comes weeks after the Competition Commission approved the acquisition of the streaming company by French Media giant Canal+. At the rate the streaming network is losing subscribers, Canal+ might find itself buying a shell. Multichoice released its financial results for the year ended March 2025 on Wednesday, which revealed DStv lost subscribers, but not as many as the previous financial year. DStv struggles The streaming network stated that the past two financial years have been a period of significant financial disruption for economies, corporations, and consumers across sub-Saharan Africa, due to challenging macroeconomic factors. The macroeconomic factors were combined with the impact of structural industry changes in the video entertainment sector, including the rise of piracy, the emergence of streaming services, and the growth of social media. 'Over this period, the group lost 2.8 million active linear subscribers and had to absorb a R10.2bn negative impact on its topline due to local currency depreciation against the US dollar.' ALSO READ: MultiChoice profit nosedives with huge decline in subscribers Showmax not helping DStv Revenue declined by 9% to R50.8 billion, primarily due to an 11% drop in subscription revenue, and trading profit decreased to R4.0 billion. To address the decline in DStv subscribers, MultiChoice invested in Showmax, its online streaming platform. However, this strategy has not yielded any success. The Group said that Showmax's active paying customers increased by 44%. Despite this increase, its revenue still declined from R1.3 billion to R1.0 billion. Showmax's trading loss increased from R2.6 billion to R4.9 billion, highlighting the platform's accelerating financial losses. The future of MultiChoice 'Our performance reflects both the challenges we've faced and the resilience of our teams. While macroeconomic pressures and currency volatility have weighed on our results, our disciplined execution, cost management and investment in new long-term growth opportunities position us well for the future,' said Calvo Mawela, MultiChoice Group CEO. MultiChoice's outlook includes: Stabilising the topline in the video businesses through focused retention initiatives, while supporting rapid topline growth in the group's interactive entertainment, fintech and insurance investees, Continuing to drive operating, cost and working capital efficiencies into the group to protect profitability and cash flows, Continuing to work with Canal+ towards a successful close of their mandatory offer, unlocking significant long-term benefits for the combined entities and their respective stakeholders. NOW READ: Competition Commission greenlights MultiChoice and Canal+ deal
