France is continuing to recover for Canal+, but the pay-TV company is failing to match revenues to subscriber numbers.
Group revenues in the first half reached €2,575 million, up 0.8% on 2017, as subscriber numbers reached 16 million from 14.6 million at the end of June 2017.
Churn in mainland France saw a sharp decrease in the first six months of 2017. The total individual subscriber base in mainland France (self-distributed subscribers, wholesale partnerships and Canalplay subscribers) decreased by 62,000. When on demand service Canalplay is excluded the subscriber base is near stable with a loss of 4,000 subs.
The Canal+ channel’s individual subscriber base recorded a year-on-year increase of 271,000 subscribers.
International operations grew by 7.2% as Canal added another 1.5 million subs, including 1.1 million in Africa.
The subscriber base in Vietnam exceeded one million subscribers for the first time.
EBITA amounted to €221 million, compared to €171 million for the first half of 2017.