Multichoice Group has revealed that it remitted about N192.09 billion from Nigeria in the financial year ended March 2024.
The company disclosed this in its consolidated financial statements released on Wednesday for the period under review.
The amount remitted was higher than that of the previous year
“The group remitted $184m from Nigeria during FY24 (FY23: USD132m) at an average rate of N1044:USD (FY23: NGN684:USD),” the report read.
“In the process, it incurred remittance losses of $59m, compared to $132m in FY23, when there was a greater divergence between the official and parallel exchange rates.
“The group held $39m in cash in Nigeria at year-end, down from $104m at end FY23, a consequence of consistent focus on remitting cash and the impact of translating the balance at the weaker naira.”
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In the year, the group reported a 13 per cent drop in subscribers in Nigeria, Angola, Kenya, and Zambia.
Blaming the economy for the decline in subscriber base in Nigeria which is one of its biggest markets, Multichoice said, nine per cent decline in active subscribers was mainly due to a 13 per cent decline in the Rest of Africa business.
It explained that mass-market customers in countries like Nigeria had to prioritise basic necessities over entertainment.
“FY24 presented the toughest set of macro-economic conditions for the Rest of Africa business since 2016. The official and parallel naira exchange rates reached peaks of N1600:1USD and N1900:USD respectively in February 2024, with several other African markets also experiencing extreme foreign exchange depreciation.
“This resulted in a translation impact for the segment’s USD revenues of 32 per cent. High double-digit inflation in many of the group’s core markets has led to immense pressure on customer spending power. This, combined with the benefit of the FIFA World Cup and Nigerian elections in the FY23 base, resulted in the active subscriber base falling by 1.2m to 8.1m at the end of FY24.”
Analysing further the impact of the tough economy, Multichoice said subscriber growth is typically more muted in a year that follows the FIFA World Cup, but FY24 came in below trend as the subscriber base declined year on year in the face of a deteriorating macro and consumer environment.
“The group has largely focused on its 90-day subscriber metric since listing in order to provide shareholders and market observers with a subscriber metric that looks through the monthly volatility in the subscriber base.”
