MultiChoice stages comeback
As MultiChoice gears up to relaunch its Showmax online streaming platform in coming weeks, the group’s share price is enjoying its own revival, having risen 37% since about midNovember.
Like any other listed equity, MultiChoice has had its ups and downs since being unbundled by Naspers, but that trend has generally been negative, with the worst of this seen in 2023.
From a record high of R155.20 in March, the stock plunged to a low of R62.31 in November, just after the company reported interim earnings to September.
The share price has lost about 18% since listing on the JSE in 2019. At close of trade on Thursday, it was R86.66, giving it a market value of R38.3bn.
Market players will be keeping an eye on the group’s investment in streaming in 2024 and whether partnership with Comcast will bear fruit.
The new version of Showmax is expected to incorporate content from the various deals its parent signed in recent years with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, Disney, NBC Universal, Canal+ and Sky.
The new Showmax platform will be launching in February with a brand-new look, a new app, and “entirely new product suite”, the company said this week. Of interest is Showmax offering the continent’s first standalone Premier League football mobile streaming plan.
The group invested substantially in Showmax, which competes with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. It invested R500m more than in the previous financial year, due mainly to dual platform costs that it says will normalise once customers have migrated.
A new Showmax group was created, 70% owned by MultiChoice and 30% by Comcastowned NBCUniversal, and powered by its Peacock technology.
Outside of streaming, the group has taken a swing at SA’s crowded sports betting market with the launch of SuperSportBet, now competing with the likes of Betway, Hollywoodbets, Playa Bets and Easybet.
The group, which uses sport as a big drawcard to its DStv and Showmax Pro platforms, has been investing heavily in an attempt to take a bigger share of the growing sports betting market in Africa.
In June 2021, the group paid $281.5m to increase its stake in BetKing, a digital and sports entertainment platform that focuses on Africa, to 49%. It initially bought a 20% stake in October 2020. Blue Lake Ventures, which traded as BetKing, recently changed its name to KingMakers.
In November, the DStv operator found itself in a headline loss position, blamed mostly on weaker currencies and increased investment in Showmax ahead of the launch.
Subscriber numbers at the group, which includes DStv, fell 2% to 21.7-million, due mainly to power cuts in SA and removal of nonpaying customers. The base of its SA business, which accounts for 40% of customers, fell 5% to 8.6-million, though premium subscribers grew 5% “reflecting a positive trend for the first time in many years”.
The rest of Africa base grew 1% to 13-million, despite the effect of weaker local currencies and consumer pressure.
FROM A RECORD HIGH OF R155.20 IN MARCH, THE STOCK PLUNGED TO A LOW OF R62.31 IN NOVEMBER,