Load shedding and legal battles leave E-tv bruised
E-TV owner eMedia Holdings has published its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2022, revealing bruises from its ongoing legal battles with Multichoice and the Department of Communication, as well as higher levels of load shedding in the country.
The group reported media and broadcasting revenues of R1.5 billion for the period, up from R1.49 billion the year before. Ebitda was recorded at R270 million (HY21: R307.7 million), with profits for the period at R144 million (HY21: R181.5 million) down 20%.
This decrease is directly attributable to the contraction of the TV advertising market as well as the negative impact of the rand/dollar exchange rate, the group said.
Headline earnings were R94.3 million for the period, with headline earnings per share at 21.3 cents.
Given the escalating load shedding in the country, eMedia said it was satisfied with the results.
“Although the ‘number of eyeballs’ available for television viewing has been and continues to be impacted by load shedding, the average minute rating for E-tv has decreased by only 5% as compared to 16.5% in Average Minute Rating (AMR) reduction for the industry.
“This AMR reduction due to the circumstances has had an impact on advertising generally. The group, in this challenging market, managed to increase its advertising revenue by 2% despite the decline in AMRs and the decrease in total TV advertising spend to the extent of 8% less than the same period in the previous year.
E-tv being the main generator of revenue for the group, improved its market share from 21.8% to 23.7%. The group’s DStv competitor, Openview reached the 3,000,000 activation mark on 13 September, it said, and is steadily growing at around 500,000 boxes per year.
However, despite the bright spots, the group noted that it has had to fork out more for legal fees over its ongoing battle with the government and its Competition Commission complaint against Multichoice.
Competition Court orders DStv to bring back four dropped E-tv channels
“The contentious situation with the Minister of Communications in order to have a responsible switch off of the analogue transmission, together with the Competition Commission’s complaint against Multichoice South Africa by ourselves for removing the group’s four entertainment channels from the DStv bouquet, has resulted in a significant increase in legal fees in the group,” it said.
It noted that this is a non-recurring expense that the group believes is beneficial for its progress.
“Management sees these increased legal fees as an investment in the future of the business,” it said.
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