LAGOS— French media titan Canal+ (CAN.L) reported a strong financial performance on Wednesday, surpassing its annual profit targets for 2025. The results were accompanied by an aggressive turnaround strategy for its newly acquired subsidiary, MultiChoice, which includes a massive recruitment drive in Africa and the shuttering of the Showmax streaming service.
The group reported Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) of €527 million ($613 million) for the 2025 fiscal year, comfortably exceeding its previous guidance of €515 million. This growth comes during a transformational period for the company following its $2 billion acquisition of South Africa-based MultiChoice in late 2025.
Despite the group’s overall success, the MultiChoice subsidiary faced a difficult year, with its subscriber base sliding from 14.9 million to 14.4 million. To arrest this decline, Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada unveiled a multi-pronged recovery plan:
- Canal+ will hire more than 1,000 new salespeople across its African markets to bolster on-the-ground presence and drive subscription growth.
- The group is launching a voluntary severance plan for support functions at MultiChoice to streamline operations.
- Earlier this week, Canal+ announced the closure of Showmax, the homegrown African streaming platform, after it recorded substantial annual losses. The group plans to pivot toward a more unified digital experience.
- A €100 million investment has been earmarked to simplify commercial offers, lower entry costs for equipment (decoders), and improve premium content.
Canal+ remains bullish on the African market, citing low pay-TV penetration and a rapidly growing population as primary growth engines. The company forecasts a rise in adjusted EBIT to €565 million in 2026, driven by expected synergies from the integration of the two media giants.
As part of its commitment to the region, Canal+ also confirmed it will proceed with a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), allowing local investors to maintain a stake in the continent’s evolving media landscape.
