Modern Times Group’s (MTG’s) total net income in 2015 amounted to SEK251 million (€27 million), down from SEK1,172 million the previous year and lowest figure since 2011, when it posted a net loss of SEK1,289 million.
In its latest annual report, providing figures over a five-year period, the company also says that net sales in 2015 stood at SEK16,218 million, up from SEK15,746 million a year earlier.
Looking at MTG’s pay-TV business, that in the Nordics had net sales of SEK5,926 million in 2015, up from SEK 5,756 million a year earlier. In 2011, the figure stood at SEK4,897 million. Meanwhile, the Emerging Markets pay-TV operation posted SEK1,105 million, down from SEK1,225 million and compared top SEK922 million in 2011.
In some of his reflections on 2015, MTG’s president and CEO Jørgen Madsen Lindemann said: “2015 was a year of major change for MTG, as we accelerated the pace of our strategic transformation from a traditional broadcaster into a digital video entertainer company. We have a clear ambition to be the number one digital video entertainer in each of our markets.
“As a result of the actions that we have taken, we ended the year stronger and more relevant, with better products, more customers and record sales. Profits were stable for the year and would have been up sharply were it not for the significant currency exchange rate headwinds that we faced. We have low borrowing levels and have proposed a higher annual dividend.
“We have changed the way we work, transformed the business and identified SEK 600 million of savings, the majority of which will flow through in 2016 to fund our ongoing investments in content and technology, and to and help offset the ongoing currency headwinds.
“Portfolio realignment is a core part of our strategy because we will allocate capital to those businesses and products that offer the greatest potential and returns. We have therefore also exited a number of markets, in line with the shift in our strategic focus away from the geographical expansion of our broadcasting operations, towards establishing leadership in complementary digital entertainment verticals that have global potential. And it is here that we have made the major leap forward.”
Looking to the future, Lindemann also said: “Moving into 2016, we are making even more live sports, new movie titles, TV series, kids’ content and now original programming available. We have the best ever line-ups in each of these categories in 2016, which provides a great opportunity for consumers to spend even more time with us and the content they love. The agreements that we are making with content owners are also becoming more flexible, so that we can decide on which channels, platforms and services we air the content and when. This again means greater choice and more revenue potential.
“Outside of the Nordics, we have seen the investments that we have made to build our market positions in the Baltics, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria pay off in higher sales and profits. We have launched new TV channels, grown our online presence and added complementary new digital businesses. Although these markets and economies are still yet to return to pre-recession levels, we are benefitting from returning growth and the shift to digital consumption. In addition, Trace TV’s urban music and lifestyle TV channels are available in more than 140 countries on 3rd party networks, and we are about to launch our own subscription video-on-demand service – Trace Play”.
