Canal+ Share Price Has Fallen Despite Growth In First Annual Results After London Listing

Canal+ is remaining bullish in the face of a falling share price, as its first full-year results since its London listing revealed improved revenues of €6.45B ($6.77B).

The France-headquartered content and networks group saw its sales rise 3.6% in 2024 compared with the previous year, thanks primarily to its film studio productions and higher subscriptions. EBITA that was up 5.4% at €503M.

Revenues at the Content Production, Distribution and Other segment was €817M, up 14.7% compared to 2023. This was thanks to the performances of Studiocanal and streamer Dailymotion. Adjusted EBIT was €70M, up 15.8%.

Canal+ also revealed a debt level of €355M, which it called “very limited” and would allow the company “to pursue its active M&A strategy” — namely its deal for African broadcast, pay-TV and streaming giant MultiChoice.

Despite the growth, Canal+’s share price was trading on the London Stock Exchange at £1.75p ($2.23) at press time today. This is well down on the £2.90p opening price its debut in December, which was lower than many analyst expectations.

Canal+ had been spun out of parent Vivendi as part of a strategy to separate the latter’s entertainment, publishing and advertising operations.

In an interview with the Financial Times this morning, Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada admitted to expecting a fall in the share price, as French shareholders exit due to local laws, but “not this low.” However, he claimed Canal+ is “not in a hurry” and was undertaking a “three-year project,” pointing to more UK and U.S. names appearing in its shareholder registry.

In preliminary results posted today, Saada said the planned deal for African pay-TV giant MultiChoice would be “the transformative acquisition in our history” and would “significantly impact the financial profile of the group in the medium-term in Africa and overall.”

Filings to regulatory authorities for the MultiChoice deal have now been completed and the mandatory offer to shareholders extended to October 8, from April 8. “Both Canal+ and MultiChoice management teams are working closely together and aim to finalize the transaction before this date,” he added, predicting the combined business would “generate significant synergies” and reduce cost bases.

In his interview with the FT, he added Canal+ was not interested in buying ITV Studios, the production arm of rival broadcaster ITV. Reports suggest ITVS and All3Media have been in talks over a merger, though the likes of Studiocanal have been mentioned in the conversation.

Bullish tone

Saada continued the bullish tone in comments to shareholders by saying, “2024 was a pivotal year” for the company, and predicting it was “firmly on track to reach its ambition to become a global media and entertainment leader with 50 to 100 million subscribers.”

Subscription generates around 80% of Canal+’s revenues. The company has sprawling pay-TV operations in its home territory, elsewhere in Europe and in Africa, and holds significant stakes in Viaplay and Asia’s Viu. In 2024, Canal+’s direct-to-consumer subs base grew 1.9%, and the company had a total subs customer base of 26.9 million, up 0.4%.

The revenue growth at Canal+ was also attributed to film productions at production arm Studiocanal such as UK indie comedy Wicked Little Letters, French box office hit Beating Heart and Paddington in Peru, whose take of $170M to date pushes the Paddington trilogy franchise close to $700M.

Also flagged were Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy and called Paris Has Fallen, the first TV series based on the Has Fallen film franchise, which was called “a smashing success in all Canal+ pay-TV territories, as well on Amazon Prime in the UK and Hulu in the United States.”

Canal+ noted cinema was its main driver of “subscriber acquisition, retention and satisfaction” and pointed to yesterday’s deal, where it committed at least €480M in new investment in French films over the next three years to ensure the Canal+ network and Cine+ OCS — a family of pay-TV networks — can retain the ability to broadcast movies as early as six months after theatrical release. Given France’s historic protectionism of its film sector, that pact with French cinema guilds is significant.