MTG Delivers Strong Q4

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group (MTG) delivered its fifth consecutive quarter of solid sales growth, up 14 percent in Q4, with strong performances in the emerging markets free-TV and pay-TV operations.

Net sales for the fourth quarter totaled SEK 4,083 million ($633.9 million). Operating income was SEK 457 million ($71 million), excluding associated company income of SEK 108 million ($16.8 million). Net income was SEK 261 million ($40.5 million). The free-TV emerging markets business posted 18 percent sales growth, while pay-TV emerging markets saw 20 percent sales growth. Free-TV Scandinavia had sales growth at a constant rate in the quarter, with higher sales in Sweden and Denmark and lower sales in Norway. In the pay-TV Nordic business, sales growth was at 7 percent, reflecting Viaplay subscriber growth and rising ARPU, along with strong performances from the Danish TV3 Sport channels.

"2013 was a year of investment in our three key strategic growth areas—content, digital and geographical expansion—and these investments are paying off in accelerated growth as our products become more relevant and more broadly available than ever before," said Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, the president and CEO of MTG. "We are totally focused on our customers and the creation of engaging and exciting entertainment experiences, which is why we have acquired even more premium sports and movie rights, further expanded our agreements with leading content producers and distributors, and launched so many more channels and services on so many different networks and platforms. It is also why we have moved further up the value chain by ourselves becoming the number one content production house in the Nordic region and one of the world’s leading content distribution companies. We have grown our audience shares and subscriber bases across almost all of our markets, and captured substantial market share gains during the year. Our digital expansion is also further accelerating as MTGx develops ahead of plan to drive on demand video consumption across our markets and rapidly grow our online advertising and subscription revenues. And we ended the year by entering two entirely new markets for us – Tanzania and Turkey, both of which offer significant growth potential for the future. All of these investments are being made precisely to shape the future of entertainment by creating the entertainment group of the future."