Telia sees TV advertising decline but pay TV revenues rise

Source: Telia

Nordic telco Telia’s TV and media arm had a mixed final quarter of the year, with a 14% reduction in advertising revenue being partially offset by 6.5% growth in pay TV revenue.

Outgoing CEO Allison Kirkby said that the company had achieved “a significant milestone” by migrating former C More pay TV customers to the new TV4+ streamer in Sweden and MTV Katsomo in Finland, with new streaming services being launched under that brand, during the quarter.

She also noted that EBITDA for the media unit had been positive “despite continuing advertising headwinds and the stiff competition and costs for Champions League content, as structural cost transformation and content rationalization take effect”.

Telia also scored a coup by striking a deal with Disney that saw the pair being an advertising partnership in Sweden, with TV4 to become the exclusive reseller of advertising inventory for Disney+ in that country.

Media revenue in Q4 decreased 7.3% to SEK 2.379 billion (US$228 million), with decreased advertising revenue in Sweden hitting the top line.

This was partially offset by the 6.5% growth in pay TV revenue, with the group adding 98,000 SVOD subscribers during the quarter, taking its total to 802,000, a 2.2% net rise over the same period last year.

Adjusted EBITDA increased to SEK20 million from negative SEK112 million, with lower content costs and operational expenses contributing to the improvement.

The results followed reports that Telia was looking to sell its TV division and news that it would book a non-cash impairment of SEK0.9 billion related to the unit.