France-headquartered global media giant Canal+ saw its annual revenue grow 3.6% in 2024 to €6.45bn with 26.9 million subscribers in 52 countries across three continents as the group continues its global expansion.
EBITA was also up for the year by 5.4% to €503m, according to the group’s annual results announced today (March 4).
It is the company’s first full-year results since listing on the London stock exchange (LSE) in December. Despite the solid financial picture, however, the company’s market value has declined sharply since the LSE listing, from £2.9bn initially to around £1.75bn currently.
In an interview with the Financial Times today, CEO Maxime Saada acknowledged that a drop in the share price had been somewhat anticipated given the requirement for some French shareholders to sell after the company was spun off from parent company Vivendi. But it was also a larger drop than he expected, although he added, “We are not in a hurry – it’s a three-year story.”
In today’s announcement, Saada called 2024 “a pivotal year for Canal+” and cited its “ambition to become a global media and entertainment leader with 50 to 100 million subscribers.”
Revenue growth was boosted by Studiocanal features Wicked Little Letters, the UK’s highest-grossing independent comedy since 2021, and Beating Hearts, the in-house production division’s highest-grossing film ever in France with nearly five million tickets sold.
Paddington In Peru, the third instalment in the Paddington franchise, has grossed around $170m at the global box office to date, with the group confirming plans for “new movies, series, stage shows and immersive experiences”.
The group has also made a foray into genre film with the recently launched Sixth Dimension label and cited its global TV series Paris Has Fallen as a strong performer in all Canal+ Pay TV territories, as well as on Amazon Prime in the UK and Hulu in the US. The group is in development on several projects based on its own IPs including a new Evil Dead movie, a reboot of Escape From New York, and another live-action Astérix movie.
Canal+ cited cinema as its “number one driver of subscriber acquisition”. Ahead of revealing its annual figures, the group signed the country’s media chronology agreement vowing to invest €480m ($503m) in local film production over the next three years and keeping its exclusive six-month theatrical to broadcast window that it continues to leverage to draw and retain subscribers.
The group also said it has made “significant headway” in what it calls “the most transformative acquisition in its history,” namely its planned deal to acquire African pay-TV giant MultiChoice.
The company has also expanded its international reach by raising its stakes in Scandinavia’s Viaplay to 29.3% and in Southeast Asia’s Viu to 37.2%.
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