MTG reports record Q3 sales
October 23, 2018
Swedish media group MTG (Modern Times Group) has posted record Q3 sales of SEK 4,683 million (€451.6m) with 3 per cent organic growth.
In a statement, Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, President & CEO of MTG, said: “This was another quarter of top and bottom line growth. Our continued organic sales growth was complemented by a 28 per cent increase in operating profits, even when including SEK 7m of transaction costs related to the proposed split of MTG.”
“Nordic Entertainment delivered its eighth consecutive quarter of higher sales and profits. The growth continues to be driven by our streaming services in general, and Viaplay in particular. Free-TV sales were down at constant FX but our Swedish Radio business again delivered double digit sales growth after the launch of the new radio licenses from August, and our Viafree streaming service continues to grow rapidly. Studios sales and profits were down but we have a healthy forward pipeline of contracted productions. Overall, we have continued to invest in original local dramas and premium sports, in order to drive up subscription and consumption levels further.”
“Nova Bulgaria continued to report double digit profitable growth, and we have now appealed the local competition authority ruling regarding the sale of Nova.”
“MTGx generated double digit organic sales growth, and we converted an EBIT loss last year into a profit this year following significant improvements at both InnoGames and ESL. This was the fifth consecutive quarter of EBITDA profits for MTGx. InnoGames delivered an exceptional quarter following a number of game updates and successful marketing campaigns. We are now ramping up the marketing of Warlords of Aternum, which has had a promising commercial launch.”
“Esports sales were up and losses were down. Healthy revenue growth in our owned and operated businesses was offset by lower work for hire volumes as we continue to strategically transform the business. We now expect esport sales to be down in Q4 before growing again in 2019, and we expect a significant improvement in the profitability of the esports operations. ”
“Our former shareholder Kinnevik completed the distribution of all of its MTG shares in August, in order to facilitate the EU approval of the Tele2 / ComHem merger. Following this process, we have now continued our work towards the split of MTG and separate listing of NENT Group, including the appointment of three new NENT board members, securing a five year credit facility and increasing our ownership in ESL. Subject to shareholder approval, we intend to list NENT in March 2019.”