Viaplay Group (VPLAY) Q3 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q3 2024 results aligned with expectations, with a focus on performance improvements, cost control, and profitable growth, while maintaining full-year guidance.

• Organic sales growth for core operations reached 6%, driven by content sales, sublicensing, and linear channel subscriptions, despite a slight decline in total reported net sales year-over-year.

• Cost reduction efforts and improved content monetization helped reduce EBIT losses both year-on-year and sequentially.

• The group continued to exit non-core markets, finalizing the sale of the UK business and progressing on the exit from the Baltics and Poland.

• Ongoing transformation includes refining content strategy, enhancing partnerships, and prioritizing value over volume.

Financial highlights

• Core net sales were SEK 4,209m in Q3 2024, flat year-on-year; total reported Group net sales were SEK 4,412m.

• Operating income before ACI and IAC improved to SEK -56m (Q3 2023: -321m); core EBIT loss reduced to SEK -49m.

• Net income was SEK -148m (Q3 2023: -693m); basic EPS was SEK -0.03.

• Group free cash flow was SEK -1,523m; net debt stood at SEK 1,202m (financial net debt) and SEK 1,465m (total net debt).

• Sublicensing and other sales up 165% year-on-year organically, driven by scripted content and sports portfolio sublicensing.

Outlook and guidance

• Full-year 2024 financial targets remain unchanged: core operations net sales of SEK 17.2–17.8bn, operating income before ACI & IAC between SEK -250m and SEK 50m, and group free cash flow of negative SEK 1.7–2.2bn.

• Expectation for positive Q4 cash flow due to seasonal working capital patterns.

• Long-term ambitions: low- to mid-single-digit revenue growth, double-digit operating margin in five years, and positive free cash flow for the core in 2025.

• Non-core operations are expected to report sales of SEK 0.8–1.0bn, an operating loss of SEK 0.1bn, and negative free cash flow of SEK 0.6–0.8bn for 2024.