MultiChoice Subscriber Base Shrinks by 2.8 Million Amid Economic Pressures, Streaming Competition

MultiChoice, owners of DStv and GOtv, has shed approximately 2.8 million subscribers as persistent economic pressures weigh heavily on households across its African markets.

The company disclosed the decline in its financial results for the year ending March 31, 2025 (FY25), released to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), South Africa.

It attributed the performance drop to ongoing macroeconomic challenges affecting sub-Saharan Africa, coupled with shifts in the video entertainment landscape such as rising piracy, the growth of streaming services, and increased social media usage.

According to MultiChoice, these industry shifts, alongside weakening local currencies against the US dollar, led to a R10.2 billion negative impact on group revenue. Over the two-year period, the group lost 2.8 million active linear subscribers.

For FY25, active linear subscribers dropped by 1.2 million year-on-year (YoY)—an 8% decline—bringing the total to 14.5 million. The losses were evenly split between South Africa and the rest of the continent, signaling widespread strain across the customer base, despite a relative improvement compared to FY24 trends.

Revenue also took a hit, falling R5.2 billion or 9% YoY to R50.8 billion. This decline was largely driven by an 11% drop in subscription revenues (1% on an organic basis), currency headwinds, and the exclusion of the NMSIS insurance business from the consolidated group as of December 2024.

The company noted that inflationary price adjustments and new offerings—such as DStv Internet, DStv Stream, and Extra Stream—helped to partially offset these declines.

Trading profit fell sharply, dropping R3.8 billion or 49% YoY to R4 billion. This was mainly due to a R2.3 billion increase in Showmax-related losses and R5.2 billion in foreign exchange revenue losses. However, cost-saving measures helped cushion the blow, with the company achieving R3.7 billion in savings.

Adjusted core headline earnings, used by the board to gauge the underlying health of the business, shifted to a loss of R800 million from revenues of R1.3 billion in FY24. This was driven by weaker trading profits and hedging losses, though it was partially offset by smaller remittance losses from Nigeria.

Free cash flow also turned negative at R500 million, compared to a positive R600 million the previous year. This was attributed to reduced profitability and higher lease repayments, though improvements in working capital management and a 29% reduction in capital expenditure helped mitigate the impact.

As of year-end, MultiChoice reported R5.1 billion in cash and cash equivalents, along with access to R3 billion in undrawn general borrowing facilities. A portion of the group’s R12 billion term loan was repaid early using R900 million in upfront proceeds from the NMSIS deal (R1.2 billion net of tax).

Despite the hurdles, MultiChoice maintained that it has responded decisively, prioritising areas within its control to navigate the current landscape.

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.

“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 rise in piracy, streaming services and social media.”