In Q2 2024 Polsat Plus Group increased the coverage footprint of the fixed-line Internet access service offered by Plus and Netia to more than 10 million households with nearly 23 million people. Also as many as 23 million people live within the coverage area of Plus’s 5G service, while the 5G Ultra service, offering data speeds of up to 1 Gbps, is available to 6 million people. TV Polsat spring programming schedule enjoyed high audience share while Polsat-Interia Group continued to be the leader in the mobile category. The technological start-up of the Group’s fourth wind farm in Przyrów started.
Major events:
- Thanks to the new wholesale access agreements, the coverage of Plus’s and Netia’s fixed-line Internet access service increased by nearly 50%, to more than 10 million households, or nearly 23 million of Poland’s population.
- Plus’s 5G coverage also reaches an area inhabited by 23 million people, while the even faster 5G Ultra service has become available to 6 million people. Thanks to the planned aggregation of the new C band, Plus customers will gain access to 5G Internet offering maximum technological data rates of up to around 2 Gbps.
- Polsat-Interia Group is the leader in the Internet area in Poland – in the first half of the year Polsat-Interia Group continued as the leader in the mobile access category and three times it achieved the biggest coverage among web portals.
- Polsat Plus Group has acquired new sports broadcasting rights. TV Polsat has purchased exclusive rights to broadcasting of the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League matches in Poland in the new format during the next 3 years. All the matches – 342 in a season – will be shown on TV and via the streaming service on Polsat Sport Premium channels only. ELEVEN SPORTS acquired exclusive rights to broadcasting of Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga matches in Poland from the 2025/26 season until the end of the 2028/29 season, along with a non-exclusive broadcasting license for the 2024/25 spring round.
- Polsat Box and Plus offer new streaming packages: All In Streaming offered by Plus includes access to three popular streaming platforms, namely Disney+, HBO MAX and Polsat Box Go Plus for only 49.99 PLN monthly; Stream+ in Polsat Box means access to Disney+ and HBO Max (including 3 HBO channels) for 49.99 PLN monthly, while Polsat Box subscribers can also enjoy free access to TV channels and the content offered as part of their respective bundle via Polsat Box Go service.
- Polsat Box and Netia have added the new soundbox 4K STB to their offer. The STB relies on Android TV platform. The four built-in speakers, which use Dolby Atmos® technology, guarantee pure and deep immersive sound which has been optimized by renown audio specialist company, Bang & Olufsen. The device offered by Polsat Box supports reception of TV channels via both, satellite and the Internet.
- Polsat Plus Group and ZE PAK power company have made a joint investment by purchasing all shares in the companies which are involved in the implementation of the wind power plant project which will generate total connected power of around 500 MW. It is the biggest planned wind power plant complex which is being built on land in Poland.
- The third in Poland publicly available NESO hydrogen refueling station was launched in Gdansk. It can serve buses, cars and trucks. The station is already used by the first of the 10 NesoBus hydrogen-powered city buses which have been manufactured by Polsat Plus Group and ZE PAK for the city of Gdansk.
- Polsat Plus Group companies signed an agreement with European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) for a 64 million EUR grant for the implementation of a hydrogen project. The agreement covers construction of 5 generally-accessible hydrogen refueling stations located along the TEN-T network roads and of a 5 MW installation for production of green hydrogen.
- During the first half of the year Polsat Plus Group’s RES generated 421 GWh of green energy (116.4 GWh from wind, 45.2 GWh from the sun, 259.3 GWh from biomass burning) – it is by 43% more than a year earlier.
- Technical start-up of Przyrów wind farm which offers 50.4 MW of power and increases the production capacity of the energy generated from wind to 150 MW.
“Our fixed-line Internet access service reaches nearly ten million flats and houses, that is nearly 23 million people. Plus’s 5G network covers and area inhabited by 23 million people, while the 5G Ultra service, with data speeds of up to 1 Gbps, reaches 6 million people. We continue investing in our programming offer, including best sports and an attractive autumn scheduling. The technical start-up of our fourth wind farm is in progress while in Gdansk we put into operation the third, following Warsaw and Rybnik, NESO hydrogen refueling station,” says Mirosław Błaszczyk, President of the Management Board of Cyfrowy Polsat and Polkomtel, Polsat Plus Group.
Segment of B2C and B2B services – consistent implementation of our multiplay strategy
Polsat Plus Group provides over 20 million telecommunication and TV services (RGUs), while 2.5 million of our customers use multiplay offers, thus enjoying tangible benefits by bundling Polsat Box and Plus services. Average revenue per contract customer increased by 4.7% YoY in Q2 2024 and reached 75.2 PLN, while the churn level for B2C customers remains low, at 7.5% annually.
“The number of customers using our bundled services remains at a high, stable level of nearly 2.5 million despite unfavorable market conditions. These customers account for 43% of all our customers, which is a very good result,” says Maciej Stec, the Vice-President of the Management Board responsible of Polsat Plus Group’s strategy. “Owing to a great extent to the consistent implementation of our multiplay strategy and popularization of 5G technology, we have been effectively consolidating the value and the loyalty of our customers. ARPU has increased across all customer groups: the B2C and B2B contract customers as well as the prepaid customers, while churn remains low, at 7.5%,” adds Maciej Stec.
Polsat Plus Group serves nearly 70 thousand B2B clients. Thanks to the successively expanded offer of advanced ICT services, including cloud solutions, data center and cybersecurity solutions, the average revenue per unit for this group of customers increased by 1.5% YoY in Q2, to nearly 1.5 thousand PLN monthly.
Media segment: TV and online services –Polsat-Interia Group is the leader in the mobile category
In Q2 2024 the total audience share of TV Polsat channels was 22.1% (7.1% for the main Polsat channel and 15% for the theme channels). TV Polsat Group’s revenue generated from advertising and sponsoring grew by 4.8%, reaching 361 million PLN in Q2 and by 6.2% to 668 million PLN in the first half of the year, while TV advertising market share was 28.1% in both periods.
In Q2 Polsat-Interia Group’s Internet services were accessed by an average of 20.4 million users monthly, generating ca. 1.8 billion page views.
“It was a very good quarter for TV Polsat. Our spring scheduling recorded very good audience results. The total audience share of our channels was 22% in Q2 and 21.8% for the whole of H1. Our revenue from advertising showed strong growth, both during Q2 as well as during the whole first half of the year – respectively by 4.8% and 6.2% YoY, in spite of numerous sports events which were broadcast by our competitors,” says Piotr Żak, the acting President of the Management Board of TV Polsat, a Polsat Plus Group company. “We continuously build our position in the online segment. In the first half of the year Polsat-Interia Group was continuously leading in the mobile category and three times it achieved the biggest coverage among web portals,” adds Piotr Żak.
Green energy segment – dynamic growth of energy production
In Q2 Polsat Plus Group generated 222 GWh of green energy (65 GWh of wind power, 33 GWh of solar power and 124 GWh from biomass burning), i.e. 53% more year-on-year. The total amount of green power generated during the first half of the year was 421 GWh (116.4 GWh of wind power, 45.2 GWh of solar power, 259.3 GWh from biomass burning), that is 43% more year-on-year.
“We have observed dynamic growth of green energy production. In the first half of the year we generated 421 GWh of green energy, or over 40% more than a year earlier. The financial results of the green energy segment are very good – during the first half of the year the segment generated as much as 121 million PLN of EBITDA,” Maciej Stec, the Vice-President of the Management Board responsible of Polsat Plus Group’s strategy. “In accordance with our assumptions, we are putting into operation further production capacity of our wind farms. In February we commenced the technical start-up of Człuchów farm with 72.6 MW of power, and at the end of June of the 50.4 MW Przyrów farm,” adds Maciej Stec.
Following Warsaw and Rybnik, another NESO hydrogen refueling station was launched in Gdansk while further stations are being constructed in Gdynia, Wroclaw and Lublin. The hydrogen bus factory in Swidnik manufactured NesoBuses for Rybnik (20 units) and Gdansk (10 units), and fulfillment of the order for Chełm (for 26 units) is in progress.
Polsat Plus Group’s financial results
Polsat Plus Group’s revenues increased by 5% YoY in Q2 and reached 3.5 billion PLN, EBITDA increased by 8.3%, reaching 865 million PLN, with net profit at 176 million PLN
“It was a very good quarter in terms of financial results – the Group’s revenue and EBITDA increased by 5% and 8.3% respectively year-on-year. The green energy segment has “contributed heavily” to the Group’s bottom line – in Q2 alone it generated 334 million PLN of revenue and 71 million PLN of EBITDA. The consistent pursuit of our multiplay strategy was reflected in ARPU growth in all customer groups as well as in the 3% growth of retail revenue. The TV advertising market has been growing strongly and so have we together with it,” says Katarzyna Ostap-Tomann, a Management Board Member of Cyfrowy Polsat responsible for finance and the Vice-President responsible for finance at Polkomtel, Polsat Plus Group.
