Supersport and DStv owner,
This was after its subscriber numbers fell, substantial currency headwinds and an increase in investment spending such as for the launch of Showmax.
The headline loss per share slid to
As of
CFO
He said while the balance showed a negative equity position, or insolvency, this did not take into account that equity comprised three non-cash items, and that the group had remained soundly liquid, and with strong cash resources and generation capability.
The group held R7.3bn in cash and its equivalents at
Adjusted core headline earnings, its board's measure of the performance, fell 20% to R1.3 billion - higher realised hedging gains and a narrower gap between the official and parallel naira rates in
The increased cash flow investment in Showmax involved R1.4bn in additional trading losses and R1.7bn in platform technology advances. This, and the impact of weaker currencies on profitability, resulted in free cash flow declining by 79% to R589 million.
Directors said in the results the year had seen the culmination of four years of strategic planning, with
Showmax, SuperSportBet and Moment were all launched in the year and had showed strong initial user traction, they said. Moment, in its first year as an operational fintech, was already dealing with 30% of the payments to
On the back of inflationary pricing and in a year that included the premiere of Shaka Ilembe and four
Cost optimisation realised R1.9bn in savings against an initial target of R800m, while set-top subsidies were reduced by R1.5bn year-on-year.
Segmental profitability was in line with the group's guidance, with margins in
A 9% decline in active subscribers was ascribed to a 13% decline in the Rest of
Showmax, which relaunched in February, was showing early traction - it delivered record single-month growth in
The combination of foreign exchange headwinds and a lower subscriber base resulted in 5% lower revenues to R56bn.
Weaker subscriber trends and foreign exchange pressures flowed through to group trading profit which was down 21% to R7.9bn. Excluding the foreign exchange losses, organic growth was 24%, said Jacobs. The start of the Showmax investment cycle reduced the group's trading profit by R1.4bn.
Looking ahead, Jacobs said they would continue to drive growth in certain areas - Showmax, Moment, SuperSportBet,
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