Bank: “NENT a success in Poland”
September 28, 2021
By Chris Forrester
Investment bank Berenberg, reporting on Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT), said that while it is still too soon for NENT’s management to communicate subscriber numbers for Poland, given that the launch was a little over a month ago, the tone from management suggested that all is going according to plan.
The news emerged following NENT’s Capital Markets Day (SMD) at which new near- and medium-term targets were set for the group, including upgrades to subscriber targets for Viaplay by the end of 2025 to 12 million from 10.5 million.
“Management also communicated increased expectations for cumulative EBIT losses within the international segment before it reaches breakeven in 2025, to SEK3.8 billion from SEK2.5 billion. We do not consider the increased EBIT losses to be a concern, but rather a reflection of increased ambition within the international expansion that is likely to bear fruit in the medium term, as content investments convince more consumers in international markets to sign up for Viaplay,” stated Berenberg.
“Not only is this encouraging with regards to potential in the Polish market, but is also provides encouraging readacross to the potential in the Netherlands. The Bundesliga has been particularly popular in Poland, as have Viaplay originals. For the Netherlands, there will be a similar sports, series and movies offering, although where the Bundesliga is key in Poland, it is Formula 1 that should prove the key right now in the Netherlands,” added Berenberg.
Investors were expecting NENT to announce four new markets for 2022-23 in addition to the Netherlands, but the company went one step further and announced five – the UK in H2 2022, and Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2023.
“These markets will be targeted via a specialised content strategy that will initially focus on originals and acquired series and movies, without a sports offering. While this means that there will likely be fewer subscribers in these markets compared to Poland and the Netherlands, there is also less cost and risk associated with the launches, and the content could be ramped up at a later stage if certain markets prove successful enough to warrant more investment,” reported Berenberg.