Budget and Revenue, Companies & Markets

Multichoice Revenue Declines by 9% in 24/25 FY Following Massive Subscriber Loss

Multichoice lost 1.2 million subscribers in the 2024/2025 financial year in addition to 1.6 million subscribers lost the year before

Emmanuel Eze

South African pay television company MultiChoice Group has recorded a 9% decline in YoY revenue for the Financial year ending on March 31, 2025. The company’s revenue dropped from Rand 55.0 billion as of 31 March 2024 to Rand 49.98 billion.

Decline in Subscription to Blame

The pay TV company also witnessed a decline in its subscriber base, which greatly contributed to its losses. There was an 11% decline in subscription revenues caused by foreign currency and subscriber volume headwinds and the deconsolidation of its insurance business.

Multichoice lost 1.2 million subscribers in the 2024/2025 financial year in addition to 1.6 million subscribers lost the year before, with the company also having to absorb a R10.2 billion negative impact on its topline due to local currency depreciation against the US dollar.

MultiChoice reported an adjusted core headline loss of 800 million rand ($45.13 million) in the year ended March 31, from headline earnings of 1.3 billion rand a year earlier as, its trading profit also went down by almost 4 billion rand, following losses from video streaming platform Showmax put at 2.3 billion rand.

Inflationary Pricing Continues

Multichoice in a bid to offset these losses have maintained inflationary pricing with price increases of 5.7% in South Africa in FY25 (FY24: 5.6%) and an average of 31% in local currency in Rest of Africa (FY24: 27%), which enabled the group to offset subscriber volume pressures and deliver 1% YoY organic revenue growth in the current financial year.

The group also carried out a series of cost savings and leveraged on the accounting gain on the sale of 60% of the group’s shareholding in its insurance business (NMSIS) to Sanlam for growth.

Speaking on the group’s financial position, MultiChoice group CEO, Calvo Mawela, said, “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.

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“We remain focused on being Africa’s entertainment platform of choice. Our strategy is shaped by developments in our industry, such as changes in technology which are driving shifts in consumer behaviour, as well as the impact of a rise in piracy, streaming services, and social media.” He concluded.