Polsat Plus Group ended Q3 2021 with very good operational and financial results. For the first time in history the presented operational data includes Netia and Premium Mobile, the two companies of which the Group has become the sole owner.
- The Group provides a total of more than 20 million services (RGU’);
- It has been dynamically rolling out the only true 5G network in Poland which now covers an area inhabited by more than 17 million people;
- It has implemented the new visual identification of its key brands;
- The Group launched two online services and apps - – Polsat Box Go and Polsat Go;
- The rights to broadcast the Men’s PlusLiga volleyball league and the Women’s Tauron Liga volleyball league matches have been extended for the next three seasons. We have extended, for at least the next two seasons, the cooperation with CANAL+ concerning access to CANAL+ SPORT3 and CANAL+SPORT4 channels to show PKO BP Ekstraklasa football premiership matches in Polsat Box. Also the sponsorship contract with Polish Volleyball League has been extended for further 7 years;
- Together with ZE PAK electricity producer we launched, in Brudzewo, the biggest in Poland solar power plant, generating 70 MWp of electrical power;
- Payout of a record-high dividend for 2020, amounting to PLN 767 million, has started.
“Our Group is not slowing down and we remain the 5G technology leader with services now available over a territory inhabited by 17 million people. We offer the best , the fastest and the only true 5G services in Poland. Just during the two most recent months the coverage of our 5G network was extended to offer access to the services to further 2 million people. Such fast roll out has been possible, thanks to, among others, our partnership with Cellnex Telecom,” says Mirosław Błaszczyk, the CEO of Cyfrowy Polsat and Polkomtel (Polsat Plus Group). “In the third quarter Polsat Plus Group also saw brand image changes. We implemented the new visual identification of our key brands and the new marketing communication strategy.
The fastest and the only true 5G network in Poland
Plus’s 5G network’s services are now available in more than 700 towns and places that are inhabited by more than 17 million people. The number of base stations that support the fastest 5G network in Poland increased to more than 2700. New transceivers were installed both in the locations where the 5G network was already available earlier as well as in nearly 200 new locations. Plus’s 5G network, which was launched in May 2020, is the fastest 5G network in Poland, offering maximum technical data speed of up to 600 Mbps. It is the only 5G network in Poland which operates in the 2600 MHz TDD frequency band, allocated to this specific technology, which means superior quality of the provided services.
The world is changing and so is the Polsat Plus Group
Polsat Plus Group has introduced the new visual identification of its key brands under a common slogan: ”Ty rządzisz. Wybierz swoje wszystko” (“You rule. Choose what you want”). The new, consistent logos were designed for Plus and Polsat brands, while Polsat Box replaced Cyfrowy Polsat. Ipla and Cyfrowy Polsat Go have been combined into one service with a new name of Polsat Box Go, while TV Polsat launched a totally new, free Polsat Go service (includes ads) which offers access to TV Polsat content.
Green energy
Polsat Plus Group has been actively involved in the efforts aimed at conservation of the natural environment and climate protection. In October, while cooperating with ZE PAK electricity company, the Group launched the biggest in Poland solar power plant, located in Brudzewo, in central Poland. It generates 70 MWp of electrical power, thanks to which the Group can already now use green energy.
Consolidation of Netia’s and Premium Mobile’s operating results
In July the Group became the sole owner of Netia and of Premium Mobile MVNO. Thus, starting from Q3 2021 the financial and operating results of the two companies are reported as part of the Polsat Plus Group’s performance. Netia’s business relies to a great extent on B2B clients who differ substantially from the B2C segment customers. In order to provide transparent and reliable view of the results of its strategy, the Group decided to isolate the B2B segment’s performance and to report it separately.
Successful implementation of multiplay strategy
In the new approach, while including Netia’s and Premium Mobile’s figures, Polsat Plus Group provides more than 20 million services (RGU’s) in total with over 2.4 million of its customers using multiplay services. The number of contract services, provided to residential customers, increased by more than 400 thousand year-on-year. Average revenue per customer increased by 6% year-on-year, also thanks to the 5G tariffs which enjoy growing popularity among customers. Churn, for residential customers, remains invariably low at 6.9%.
At the same time the Group holds a strong position in the B2B segment, with the very good cooperation with Netia contributing to this situation. The total number of the Group’s B2B clients remains at a stable level of ca. 70 thousand with each of them generating average monthly revenue of nearly PLN 1.4 thousand.
The new Polsat Go and Polsat Box Go services have been received very well. The two flagship service packages of Polsat Box Go, namely Premium and Sport, enjoy high user interest while the platform has been systematically expanding its content libraries and recently it has also provided access to CANAL+ SPORT3 and CANAL+ SPORT4 channels which broadcast the PKO BP Ekstraklasa football premiership matches as well as all the matches of TAURON Liga women’s volleyball league.
“Initiation of the strategic partnership with Cellnex Telecom has enabled us to continue our investments in the 5G technology as well as to finalize our acquisition-related projects. In July 2021 we became the sole owner of Netia and of the rapidly growing Premium Mobile MVNO. At the same time we were able to start the work on the strategy of further development of Polsat Plus Group - it is our intention to provide the details of our new strategy in coming weeks,” says Maciej Stec, Vice-President of the Management Board for Strategy at Cyfrowy Polsat and Polkomtel (Polsat Plus Group).
Strong position on the TV and Internet publishers markets
Polsat’s main channel as well as other TV Polsat channels remain audience leaders in the commercial viewers group while the achieved audience results are in line with the broadcaster’s long-term strategy. TV Polsat’s revenue from TV commercials and sponsoring was growing faster than the TV advertising market thanks to which TV Polsat was able to increase its market share to nearly 29%.
“The results of the fourth’s quarter, that has just began, are very good in our opinion and we sustain our forecasts regarding the double digit annual growth dynamics of the TV advertising market,” says Stanisław Janowski, the CEO of TV Polsat, a Polsat Plus Group company. “It has been the fifth quarter of Interia’s presence in our Group. We have accomplished the synergies that we announced and Interia continues to develop while the content produced by TV Polsat offers it substantial support and contributes to its improved performance. The number of real users of our Group’s portals increased to nearly 20 million with the average monthly number of page views reaching 2 billion,” stresses Stanisław Janowski.
Stable revenues and EBITDA
During Q3 2021 Polsat Plus Group posted a revenue growth of more than 2.5%1), with the revenue exceeding PLN 3 bn. Adjusted EBITDA2) was PLN 904 mn, free cash flow has continued to grow and reached more than PLN 1.4 bn for the period of 12 months. The total debt ratio decreased to 0.65x (net debt/EBITDA LTM) as a result of finalization of the Cellnex Telecom deal.
“Our Group is in a very good financial condition. Both segments of our operations have been developing and generating results that are in line without our expectations. Being in such a comfortable situation we have started the payout of a record-high dividend for the previous year and we also made the decision to go forward with an intensive marketing campaign connected with the implementation of our new brand strategy,” says Katarzyna Ostap-Tomann, Management Board Member responsible for Finance at Cyfrowy Polsat and Polkomtel (Polsat Plus Group). “At the same time, we extended the volleyball sponsoring agreement, we allocated additional funds to our autumn TV schedule and we made decisions regarding investments in sports broadcasting rights for the coming years, including the UEFA Champions League,” adds Katarzyn Ostap-Tomann.
Major operating figures for Q3 2021 in B2C and B2B services segment:
- Polsat Plus Group provides over 20 million pay TV, Internet access and telephony services (RGU’s)
- The number of multiplay customers increased by 105 thousand yoy (4%) and reached 2.44 million.
- The number of contract services for B2C customers increased by 410 thousand (3.1%) yoy and reached 13.5 million.
- Average revenue per contract customer (ARPU) for B2C services increased to PLN 68.6 (+5.7% yoy).
- Churn ratio for B2C customers remained invariably low, at 6.9% annually.
- The number of prepaid services increased to 2.77 million and so did the associated ARPU – up by 3.1% yoy, reaching PLN 16.4.
- Over the 9 months of 2021 Cyfrowy Polsat and Plus customers transferred ca. 1303 PB of data (up by 19% yoy).
- The total number of B2B clients is ca. 70 thousand with each of them generating average monthly revenue of nearly PLN 1.4 thousand.
Major operating figures for Q3 2021 in the media segment:
- TV Polsat Group’s channels were among the audience leaders in the commercial group, achieving audience share of 24.3% in Q3 (8.7% share achieved by the main channel and 15.6% by the theme channels) and a share of 24.2% during the first nine months of the year (9% share achieved by the main channel and 15.3% by the theme channels).
- TV Polsat Group’s revenue from TV advertising and sponsoring grew faster than the TV advertising market. The revenue increased by 6.1% yoy , reaching PLN 267 mn in Q3, while the Group’s share in the TV advertising market increased to 28.8%. During the first three quarters of 2021 the Group’s advertising revenues increased by 19.5%, to PLN 869 million, while its share in the TV advertising market increased to 28.8%.
- Polsat-Interia Group holds the leading position on the Internet publishers market with 19.9 million users monthly and more than 2 billion page views monthly for the Group’s Internet services.
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1) Change yoy adjusted to account for IC delta.
2) EBITDA excluding Q3’20 EBITDA for NetCo and the one-off costs associated with COVID-19 (including donations) which amounted PLN 3.3 million as well as excluding the one-off effect, in Q3’21, of the sale of NetCo.
