Multichoice CEO scores R35 million payday

The group benefited from selling a 60% stake of its insurance business (NMSIS) to Sanlam, which helped push it into a profit.

This contributed R3.4 billion on the sale of NMSIS, contributing massively to the group’s R5.2 billion in profit before tax.

The group added that a favourable equity position came via cost savings and currency stabilisation, benefiting from the rand’s appreciation against the dollar.

Despite the return to profit, the company was affected by severe economic disruption in markets, corporations and consumers across Africa.

The group’s revenue showed a 9% decrease to R50 billion, but the group delivered R3.7 billion in ‘cost savings,’ well ahead of management’s target of R2 billion.

Although the group’s basic earnings increased by over 100% to 1,194 cents, no dividend was declared during the period as the group looks likely to be purchased by Canal+.

Despite the profit jump, Mawela saw his single-figure remuneration decrease from $2.9 million (R51 million) to $2 million (R35 million).

His base salary increased from $702,000 (R12.4 million) to $726,000 (R12.7 million), while his salary and benefits also increased.

However, his short-term incentives (STIs) decreased from $446,000 (R7.8 million) to $407,000 (R7.2 million).

His long-term incentives were the primary reason for the drop, declining from $1,408 million (R24.7million) to $554 thousand (R9.7 million).

The group’s remuneration report showed that Mawela exceeded his targets for cost savings, which partially offset the pressure on South Africa’s margins.

He also exceeded cash targets for cash, the gross gambling revenue for BetKing and several group projects.

However, Showmax proved to be a problem area for the CEO’s remuneration, achieving only 50% of the target to increase the Showmax Subscriber base.

South African targets were missed for subscriber numbers, but the Rest of Africa segment reached its target.

Showmax revenue saw a 0% achievement rate for its remuneration due to falling short of the Showmax subscriber base numbers in South Africa.

Losing customers

The group noted that it was materially affected by structural industry changes in video entertainment over the year, which included the rise of piracy, streaming services and social media.

The group said that it had a total of 14.5 million subscribers by the end of March 2025, 7 million of which were in South Africa and 7.5 million in the rest of the continent.

This was, however, 8% lower than its reported base in 2024, where it had 15.7 million subscribers. The group lost 589,000 subscribers in South Africa and another 591,000 subscribers in the Rest of Africa.

The picture only gets worse when looking at 90-day-active subscribers, which is generally more accurate in reflecting its user base.

90-day active subscribers are defined as all subscribers that have an active primary subscription within the 90-day period on or before the reporting date.

The group reported 20.9 million of these subscribers in 2024. In 2024, these dropped by 2.3 million or 11% to 18.6 million subscribers.

In South Africa, this translates to a loss of 614,000 subscribers using the 90-day metric.

Amid the drop in customer numbers, management increased prices by 5.7% in South Africa and 31% in local currency in the Rest of Africa to counter the loss in subscribers.

Issued on BusinessTech by Luke Fraser | https://businesstech.co.za/news/technology/830111/multichoice-ceo-scores-r35-million-payday/