Market leader Nigeria fetches $475.5m revenue in ROA operations
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigeria alone yielded $475.5 million revenue for MultiChoice in the full year ended March 2022 (FY 2022), topping earnings in the Rest of Africa (RoA) operations which exclude the broadcaster’s base in South Africa.
MultiChoice Group posted $697.8 million (N292 billion) trading profit for FY 2022, rising 0.4 per cent over FY 2021.
Its RoA operations, which include Nigeria, reported $81.3 million in trading.
Core headline earnings, which measures sustainable business performance, were up by 6 per cent at $237.1 million.
Compared with other African countries where MultiChoice has presence – such as Kenya, Zambia, and Angola – Nigeria ranks first with 11 per cent year-on-year (YoY) subscription growth and 43 per cent subscription revenue in FY 2022.
This is on the back of regionalisation which produced positive results to unlock market potential and agreement with FIRS to postpone court challenges and to commence tax audit.
The popularity of local content like Big Brother Naija had a massive impact on the performance of the RoA operations.
Nigerian metrics
MultiChoice said it generated a subscription revenue of ZAR 7.1 billion ($475.5 million) from Nigeria alone, a 5 per cent increase YoY above ZAR6.8 billion in FY 2021.
Since MultiChoice receives revenue from Nigeria in naira, the actual amount is N196.3 billion which it converted at ZAR27.66 (or N412.9).
MultiChoice subscription revenue excludes revenue from hardware sales, advertising revenue, and other revenues.
Nigeria accounted for 43 per cent of total revenue from its RoA operations without South Africa.
The company kept away ZAR600 million in relation to its tax audit with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
MultiChoice also projected higher PayTV penetration for its Nigerian Business now at 35 per cent versus South Africa at 53 per cent and North America at 61 per cent.
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Focus on cutting cost
Per reporting by Nairametrics, the results in other African markets in YoY subscription and subscription revenue growth in FY 2022 are:
- Kenya – Subscription (4 per cent), revenue (9 per cent)
- Zambia – Subscription (3 per cent), revenue (7 per cent)
- Angola – Subscription (1 per cent), revenue (5 per cent)
“Reduced losses in the Rest of Africa (RoA), a rebound in advertising revenues and a continued focus on cost containment enabled us to absorb the R1.1bn ($74.5 million) impact of a normalisation in content costs as live sport returned and we resumed our local content production post the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“As a platform of choice, our group will look to further expand our entertainment ecosystem by identifying growth opportunities that leverage our scale and local capabilities,” MultiChoice Group CEO Calvo Mawela said.