Viaplay Reports Q3 Subs Gains

Viaplay ended Q3 with 6.4 million subscribers, a 78 percent year-on-year gain, with 879,000 customers added in the third quarter.

“We have delivered another quarter of high subscriber and revenue growth, which demonstrate the attraction and resilience of our well-differentiated offerings,” said Anders Jensen, president and CEO. “Our content lineup has never been stronger, and we added key new original and sports content during the quarter. The international operations are performing ahead of plan, and we reached the important milestone of more than 1 million subscribers in both the Dutch and Polish markets. However, this international performance was offset by the rate of direct-to-consumer subscription and ARPU growth in the Nordics, which was lower than anticipated.”

Jensen continued: “The international Viaplay operations added 685,000 subscribers in the quarter, which was more than double the number of subscribers added in the previous quarter. The addition of the English Premier League rights in Poland and the Netherlands contributed to the growth, together with the new distribution agreement in Poland. Revenues grew accordingly and also reflected the higher price point in the Netherlands.”

With the acquisition of Premier Sports in the U.K. complete, Viaplay is upping its year-end international subscriber target from 2.5 million to 2.7 million, ahead of next week’s U.K. launch. It has revised download its Nordic target from 4.8 million to 4.6 million.

“As a result of the immediate effects of the general economic slowdown on advertising and subscription sales, the lower than anticipated premium subscription sales in Norway, and the strategic decision to discontinue an unfavorable distribution agreement, we are reducing our full year Nordic organic revenue growth target to approximately 10 percent,” Jensen noted. “Conversely, international sales are expected to exceed our previous expectations, and we now expect full year total group organic revenue growth of approximately 20 percent.

“Our international operations are now expected to be profitable on an annual basis in 2024—one year ahead of schedule,” Jensen continued. “This is due to a combination of higher sales growth than originally projected, and the prioritization of investments into Poland, the Netherlands and the U.K. Our Nordic operations are now expected to grow their revenues at a slower rate moving forward. We will embark on a substantial cost saving program in 2023, in order to deliver these targets by offsetting some of the operating and currency headwinds that we face.

We remain fully funded for our expansion and have full visibility over our forward content costs. The broader macroeconomic outlook and geopolitical backdrop are of course less certain. This is why we have adjusted our growth outlook, and already made plans to adjust our cost base and exposure, where relevant and as we have done in the past. We are also taking steps to accelerate our growth where momentum is strong.”