Naspers, parent company of pay TV company Multichoice, has reported solid growth in the pay TV sector.
In an announcement of its financial results for the year ended 31 March 2014, Naspers reported 20% growth in revenues to R36.3 billion in its pay television business, which covers 50 countries on the African continent. Total subscribers increased by a record 1.3 million, taking the base to over 8 million homes. Continued expansion of digital terrestrial (DTT) services, more investment in local content and an increase in online service offerings resulted in 13% growth in trading profit to R8.5 billion.
“Our goal is to invest in growth businesses that will deliver value over the long term. With this in mind, we will continue to invest heavily for organic expansion and may also acquire new businesses within our fields of focus,” said new Naspers CEO, Bob van Dijk (pictured). “Our belief is that, through a combination of attractive markets with development potential and appealing customer product offerings such as online classifieds, etail and DTT, we have realistic, solid prospects for growth and value creation over time.”
South Africa’s Multichoice has seen subscriber numbers grow by a record 556,000 for the year ended 31 March 2014. This resulted in the overall subscriber base exceeding 5 million households for the first time.
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