Cyfrowy Polsat Group ended Q3 2017 with very good operating results in both segments, which means that it has been equally effective on telecommunication and pay TV markets as well as on the TV broadcasting market. The group posted solid financial results in spite of the adverse impact of the “Roam Like at Home” regulation and it has continued to generate very high free cash flow. Pursuit of consistent financial policy has contributed to upping of the Group’s corporate rating outlook by Moody’s Investors Service to positive.
Major operating figures for Q3 2017
- Continued growth of saturation of the customer base with integrated services:
- Already as many as 25% of the Group’s contract customers use the multiplay offer,
- Nearly 1.45 million customers use integrated services – the number increased by 210 thousand, or 17% yoy,
- The number of RGU’s used by this group of customers grew to 4.31 million.
- Stable base of 5.8 million contract customers:
- On the average, each of them uses 2.34 services from the Group’s portfolio,
- Average revenue per customer from this group (ARPU) was PLN 88.4, with the growth dynamics temporarily under the adverse influence of the ”Roam Like at Home” regulation,
- Low churn ratio of 8.8% as a result of effective multiplay strategy.
- Big growth of the number of contract services – by 512 thousand yoy, – to more than 13.5 million:
- In the mobile telephony segment, the number of contract services increased by 248 thousand you, reaching 6.9 million. The growth is the outcome of the favorable influence of multiplay strategy as well as the temporarily intensified of migration of customers from the prepaid segment.
- Thanks to good sales of Multiroom services and paid OTT services (including the subscriptions of IPLA service packages), the number of contract DTH services increased by 203 thousand, to the level of 4.9 million.
- Contract customer base for the mobile Internet service increased by 61 thousand yoy, to nearly 1.8 million. During the first three quarters of the year, Cyfrowy Polsat and Plus network customers transferred 525 PB of data, or 49% more than during the analogous period of 2016.
- Prepaid base, which reflects the actual number of active users, remained stable at 2.9 million, while the segment’s ARPU demonstrated dynamic growth of 8% yoy, reaching PLN 20.2, which was among others the outcome of cleansing the base of one-time activations as well as end of the customer registration-related promotions.
- In Q3 both, the Polsat TV Group as well as the main TV channel were audience leaders in the commercial viewer group, with the overall share of 24.4%, which included 12% share held by Polsat’s main channel and 12.5% audience share achieved by the theme channels. During the first 9 months of the year, the audience figures for Polsat TV stayed in line with the long-term strategy – 24.5% for the Group, including 12.4% for Polsat’s main channel and 12% for its theme channels.
- The revenue generated by Telewizja Polsat Group from TV advertising and sponsoring on a stable market increased by 4% yoy, to PLN 231 million and as result the Group’s share in TV advertising market increased to 28.6% During the 9 months Polsat TV Group’s revenues increased by 2% yoy, to PLN 772 million, with the TV advertising market share increasing to 27.2%.
- Average monthly number of users of IPLA, the biggest Polish web TV, was ca. 3 million.
- The Group posted very good and stable financial results:
- Revenues: PLN 2.391 bn zł,
- EBITDA: PLN 851 mn
- EBITDA margin: 36%,
- Net profit: PLN 235 mn,
- Free cash flow: PLN 1.567 bn over a 12-month period,
- Overall net debt /EBITDA LTM: 2.83x.
“The third quarter was, in our view, very good for our Group thanks to the consistent pursuit of the multiplay strategy in the segment of services provided to residential and business clients, as well as thanks to the very good audience results of Polsat Group channels. The positive effects of our efforts are demonstrated by the growing operating results in both segments and stable financial performance of the entire Group,” says Tobias Solorz, CEO of Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. and Polkomtel Sp. z o.o.
Segment of services provided to residential and business clients
“Once again we have seen the number of contract services that we provide grow substantially, by over half million. These services form the foundation of our operations and of our multiplay strategy. Just as we expected, these developments had positive impact on the average revenue per contract customer – though this quarter the figure also remained under temporary unfavorable influence of the ”Roam Like at Home” regulation – while the churn ratio stayed low,” sums up Tobias Solorz.
“Our offer of multiplay services continues to enjoy unwavering interest. The number of customers of integrated services increased by nearly 70 thousand in the third quarter alone and currently nearly one out of every four contract customers uses a multiplay package.
“In spite of the adverse impact of the ”Roam Like at Home” regulation, overall revenue from this segment has continued to grow, also thanks to higher revenue from sale of equipment and growing wholesale revenue. Growth of international roaming traffic, in turn, translates to higher cost of the air-time purchased from foreign operators. At the same time, the segment has been able to generate high EBITDA margin, as compared to the market,” comments Katarzyna Ostap-Tomann, Management Board Member responsible for finance in Cyfrowy Polsat S.A., Polkomtel Sp. z o.o. and Telewizja Polsat Sp. z o.o.
TV broadcasting and production segment
“Last quarter has been yet another successful quarter for our TV broadcasting and production segment, both in terms of audience share and advertising revenue. By achieving 24.4% and 12% audience shares, both the Group, as a whole, and Polsat main channel remained viewership leaders in the commercial group. Once again we did very well in advertising air-time sale – the growth dynamics of our revenue was 4% on otherwise flat TV advertising and sponsoring market,” says Maciej Stec, Management Board Member of Cyfrowy Polsat S.A. and Telewizja Polsat Sp. z o.o.
Items which enjoyed high interest in Polsat channel’s offer in the commercial viewers group included both, permanent items, such as ”Pierwsza miłość” (First Love) soap opera, the Monday ”Mega Hit” movie time slot, or ”Świat według Kiepskich” (The World According to Kiepski) soap opera shown from Monday to Saturday, as well as the shows from the autumn season programming, e.g. ”W rytmie serca” (In the Rhythm of the Heart), the new ”Supermodelka Plus Size” (Plus Size Supermodel Show), ”Twoja twarz brzmi znajomo” (Your Face Sounds Familiar) and ”The Brain. Genialny umysł” (The Brain), ”Nasz nowy dom” (Our New Home) shows as well as the cycle of entertainment shows - ”Kabaret na żywo” (Live Cabaret) which are broadcast on Sunday nights. Our ”Wydarzenia” (the News) program, shown daily at 6.50 p.m., continued to enjoy high viewership. Another item which is worth noting is ”Nowy Dzień z Polsat News” (New Day with Polsat News) block of news programs which is broadcast in the morning from Monday to Friday.
– While analyzing the financial results of the TV broadcasting and production segment in the third quarter, one should remember about the last year’s high benchmark – in June and July 2016 our TV channels were broadcasting the UEFA EURO 2016 football championship matches, which had positive influence on audience figures, advertising revenue and overall revenue as well as EBITDA of the whole segment,” says Katarzyna Ostap-Tomann. “Thus, comparison of this year’s results to the analogous quarter of 2015 is more reliable. By doing so we will observe stable growth of the segment, as assumed, and adhesion to our key principles, i.e. balanced programming policy and discipline in the cost area.
Financial results of TV broadcasting and production segment for Q3 2017.
Cyfrowy Polsat Group’s financial results
Financial results of Cyfrowy Polsat Group in Q3 2017
“It has been yet another very good quarter in terms of financial performance of the entire Group. The results we have achieved are a reflection of the consistently pursued strategy, very good operating results in both segments as well as efficient management of the cost base. Once again the items which attract attention are the stable, high free cash flow, which we achieved with a simultaneous distinct increase in strategic investments of the Group. I have no doubt that our performance was the factor which led to the increase of our corporate rating by Moody’s, who appreciated the consistent implementation of our operating strategy, coupled with healthy financial performance, allowing fast deleveraging of the Group,” sums up Katarzyna Ostap-Tomann.
