Viaplay’s international operations added 685,000 subscribers in Q2, or more than double the number in the previous quarter.
According to the company’s president and CEO Anders Jensen, the addition of the English Premier League rights in Poland and the Netherlands contributed to the growth, together with a new distribution agreement in Poland. Revenues grew accordingly and also reflected the higher price point in the Netherlands. Significantly, the company has 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 also said that now the Viaplay has completed the acquisition of Premier Sports in the UK, it is raising our year end international subscriber target from approximately 2.5 million to approximately 2.7 million. Viaplay will be launched in the UK on November 1. At the same time, it is reducing its year end Nordic target from 4.8 million to 4.6 million, and its group target is therefore unchanged at 7.3 million.
He added that Viaplay’s international operations are now expected to be profitable on an annual basis in 2024 – one year ahead of schedule. This is due to a combination of higher sales growth than originally projected, and the prioritisation of investments into Poland, the Netherlands and the UK.
Viaplay had net sales of SEK3,972 million in Q3, up from SEK3,054 million in the same period in 2021. It had a net loss of SEK86 million, compared to a profit of SEK55 million a year earlier.
