MTG Reports Solid Q4 Growth

STOCKHOLM: Modern Times Group (MTG) saw record sales in its fourth quarter, with profits up as well.

Sales in the fourth quarter amounted to SEK 5 billion ($574 million), a 10.4-percent lift, and net income of SEK 422 million ($48 million). Q4 operating income was SEK 554 million ($63 million).

For the full-year 2016, sales hit a record SEK 17.3 billion ($1.98 billion), up 6.7 percent. Net income was SEK 963 million ($110 million), a nice gain from the SEK 533 million ($61 million) reported a year ago. Operating income for the full year was SEK 1.3 billion ($149 million).

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, the president and CEO of MTG, said: “2016 was an important and successful year for MTG. We delivered on our objective to accelerate our sales growth and increase our profits, and we took a number of very important steps to shape our business for the future. We have been on a journey for several years now to adjust our traditional broadcast businesses to new media consumption trends, and we accelerated this strategy even further in 2016. We have rolled out new channels and services, including Viafree in Scandinavia and Viaplay in the Baltics, and added fantastic new original programming and sports products.”

He added, “Our organic sales grew by 5 percent for the full year and 8 percent in Q4. This reflects the growth in the number of customers that we are reaching and the time and money that they are spending with our products, which are more broadly available, more relevant and more popular than ever. Our group-wide digital sales almost doubled in 2016. Viaplay had another record year with substantial subscriber growth and price increases reflecting further investments in high-quality programming and enhanced user experience. MTGx expanded its operations as we gradually stepped up our investments in eSports in particular and added a new vertical, online gaming. These developments all position us well for further growth in 2017.”