Cyfrowy Polsat increased subscriber numbers by 75,063 in the first quarter, but Poland’s leading pay-TV platform is facing problems caused by the weakness of the Zloty.
The company reported a 14% rise in first quarter profits, as earnings rose to PLZ 73 million (16.6m), just falling short of analyst estimates. Profit on the quarter was PLZ 85.4 million.
The satcaster is coming under pressure caused by the weakness of the Zloty against both the Euro and the Dollar. This has increased transmission costs and software licences by some 30%.
Polsat ended March with a total of 2,802,056 subscribers. Its churn rate grew by 2.3 percentage points to reach 8.4%, but ARPU (Average Revenue Per Unit) increased by 3.1% to PLZ 38.9.
Subscriber acquisition costs also increased, by 31.9% to PLZ127.8, following an increase in subscriber incentives between November and February. In addition to the two competing satellite platform and cable, Polsat now faces further competition from the launch of DTT services in the country.
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