Canal+ grows subscriber base as it preps international moves

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Canal+ Group added 900,000 new subscribers last year as it accelerated its drive to pursue an international growth strategy – although international customer adds lagged behind those in France for 2023.

At year-end, Canal+ Group’s total subscriber base, including both individual and collective customers, reached 26.4 million, up from 25.5 million at the year-end 2022.

The pay TV outfit’s revenues totalled €6.058 billion, up 3.2% or 2.9% at constant currency.

Revenues from TV operations in mainland France increased by 3.3% at constant currency compared to 2022, driven by growth in the subscriber base and ARPU. The total subscriber portfolio in mainland France recorded a net growth of 290,000 subscribers over the past 12 months, reaching 9.8 million subscribers.

Arnaud de Puyfontaine

Canal+ faces a challenge this year, however with the likely loss of Ligue 1 football rights.

(Answering a question on parent company Vivendi’s call regarding its current exclusion from negotiations for Ligue 1, CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine said that Canal+ was in business to “make money”. Given that football body is in closed negotiations with other parties, he said that “we do consider that we have been badly treated by this ex-partner and again we are following the situation, but we are not part of the process as it is today”.)

Revenues from Canal+ international operations increased by 1.2% compared to 2022, or by 0.5% at constant currency. The total subscriber portfolio outside mainland France has recorded a net growth of 575,000 subscribers over the past 12 months, reaching a total of 16.6 million subscribers at year-end.

MultiChoice move

The results follow several months during which Canal+ has accelerated its drive to increase its presence internationally, most recently by entering into exclusive negotiations to acquire 100% control of South Africa’s MultiChoice.

De Puyfontaine said a combination of Canal+’s French-speaking African footprint with MultiChoice’s English-speaking one represented a great opportunity for the company. He said the. Pair could “build a future together” and were “very complementary”.

Canal+’s decision to bid for full control followed a ruling by South African antitrust watchdog the TRP that Canal+ would have to make a mandatory offer, having crossed the 35% ownership threshold that triggers this.

Canal+ had argued it should not be required to make a mandatory offer as MultiChoice’s own rules of incorporation held that non-South African companies should be restricted to holding 20% of the company’s voting rights. However, the TRP argued that the 20% rule only applied to voting on matters specifically concerning holders of broadcast licences,

“As regards the regulatory situation…our teams are working together also to be able to comply with the [20%] regulation,” said De Puyfontaine on the earnings call.

Move towards majority control of Viu

Canal+ is now also the leading shareholder in Nordic streamer Viaplay and the holder of a 30% stake in Asian streamer Viu, following recent transactions.

François Laroze

Regarding Viu, Vivendi CFO François Laroze said on the earnings call that Canal+ would extend its stake to a 51% majority “in the coming years if the performance of Viu is in line with the proposed business plan”. He said that up to now the group had met all its objectives.

Regarding Viaplay, Laroze said the group “should [now] be in a position to rapidly return to good results”.

In terms of its own base, 16.6 million out of Canal+’s total of 26.4 million subscribers are now outside France.

Laroze said growth of the subscriber base internationally had been slower last year, but that this was mostly due to “phasing”, with the impact from the football World Cup concluding before the end of 2022, and the African Cup of Nations taking place early this year.

In France, meanwhile, the group was given the green light in January to acquire Orange’s pay TV platform OCS, taking over the OCS pay TV offering and film and series co-production outfit Orange Studio.

(Vivendi also reported that its own production arm Studiocanal achieved a record year in 2023, due to successful film releases in theatres, both in France and internationally, as well as strong growth in international sales and good performance of its catalogue.)

Canal+ Group’s EBITA amounted to €525 million, up 2.0% or 1.3% at constant currency compared to 2022.

Canal+’s strong performance contributed to revenue growth of 9.5% at Vivendi and EBITA growth of 10.6%.

Vivendi split plan update

De Puyfontaine said that Vivendi’s share price had suffered from a conglomerate discount “topping 50% at one point” and that it was a “priority” to “restore agility and entrepreneurial capacity”.

He said the company’s plan to split into four listed entities to help remove the discount and achieve that greater agility was “progressing” but would “have to demonstrate its added value for all stakeholders”.

De Puyfontaine said that, regarding Canal+, there would be an investor day organised with more detailed performance data disclosed, if a definite decision is ultimately taken to split Vivendi.