Viaplay Group, the Nordic entertainment provider, has reported Q4 net sales of SEK 4.9 billion (€0.46bn) and total operating income before associated company income (ACI) and items affecting comparability (IAC) of SEK 158 million.

Q4 reported operating income fell SEK -637 million, attributed to the full acquisition of satellite firm Allente. Overall, sales for the quarter were up marginally. For the full year, sales dropped by around 5 per cent to SEK 17.6 billion.

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann President & CEO, commented: “Q4 marked another quarter of continued delivery of our transformation strategy. We have met, or exceeded, our full year guidance ranges for sales, profits and cashflow, as the performance of the Viaplay business reflected the product enhancements and cost savings that we have made, and the Allente business performed as anticipated. The completion of the acquisition of the remaining 50 per cent of Allente Group has strengthened our product offering and ability to monetise our content portfolio. All of this is securing our position as one of the Nordic region’s largest and most relevant media houses. Our guidance for 2026 reflects this progress, and we still have plenty of work to do.”

“Our Q4 results include half a quarter of results for Allente Group, after we completed the acquisition of the remaining 50 per cent of the Group’s shares in mid-November.”

“Our Viaplay subscription sales were up 2 per cent, with higher ARPU levels for both our D2C and B2B products. Our D2C subscriber base continued to grow, while the decline in our B2B base reflected our prioritisation of value over volume. Our D2C premium sports product performed particularly strongly, and the growth in D2C streaming revenues more than offset the decline in B2B streaming revenues. We have also now renegotiated a number of our legacy B2B partner agreements onto a commercial and sustainable basis.”

“Linear channel subscription sales were up slightly, while our advertising sales were flat, as the continued strong growth in digital advertising sales continued to offset the decline in linear advertising sales.”

“Sublicensing and other sales were sharply down again and reflected the normalisation after the exceptionally high scripted content sales and sports rights sublicensing in Q4 2024. This was the primary reason for the 2 per cent organic decline in the sales of our core operations.”

“Our Q4 programming slate was more attractive and relevant than ever – combining the very best in premium sports, local storytelling and international formats. English Premier League football, Formula 1 motor racing, Darts and winter sports have continued to drive viewer engagement, and we will have even stronger products with even more coverage in 2026 and beyond. We also had the latest local productions of well-known international reality formats such as Paradise Hotel and Expedition Robinson, alongside a wide range of established and newly released series and movies.”

“The 4 per cent reduction in operating expenditure for our core operations, when excluding the consolidation of Allente Group for half of the quarter, reflected the measures that we have taken to adjust the overall cost base and improve efficiency levels, as well as positive FX effects. Content accounts for approximately 80 per cent of our total costs, and these costs have continued to rise due to legacy agreements that are yet to expire. We continue to allocate capital where appropriate to drive the positive viewing and subscription trends that we have seen.”

“Our core operating Income before ACI and IAC, when excluding the consolidation of Allente Group, was therefore down year-on-year and reflected the embedded inflation in legacy content agreements, and the impact of negative FX effects. We have now also written down the balance sheet value of certain non-sports content as a non-cash IAC.”

“We are in the process of integrating the Allente business. It is a business that we know well as a long-term owner, operator and partner. We currently expect the integration to yield SEK 300 to 400 million of full run-rate annual cash synergies in 2027. Some of these synergies will be realised in 2026 when the integration has been finalised. The cash cost of the integration is expected to be between SEK 270 and 330 million, and will be reported as an IAC during 2026.”

“Looking forward into 2026, we expect our sales to be stable on an organic basis, which is in line with our previously stated long-term ambition. The anticipated growth in our streaming subscription and digital advertising sales will continue to be offset by declining linear channel and advertising sales, and the decline in Allente’s DTH subscriber base. On the profitability side, we expect annual EBITDA of between SEK 1.0 and 1.4 billion, as we continue to execute on the transformation of Viaplay Group, and benefit from the integration of Allente Group. Some of our content costs will continue to increase in 2026 due to the legacy multi-year agreements with in-built inflation that were entered into before the recapitalisation of the Group. We are negotiating the extension of legacy content and distribution agreements where the commercial terms can be improved, and exiting or replacing agreements where this is not possible.”

“We have put in place new financing arrangements, and have now consolidated the cash flow generative Allente business. Our operating free cash flow in 2026 will continue to include the cash drag from the discontinued non-core businesses. We confirm our expectation for a Group double-digit EBITDA margin in 2028, which will increase our cash flows and ability to reduce our debt levels over time.”

“Overall, Q4 was another important quarter for us. We are in a more competitive position than a year ago, but we still have much to do to deliver on our transformation agenda and goals. Together, we are building a more focused, more relevant and more resilient Group, which will create long-term value for our owners, customers, teams and partners,” concluded Lindemann.

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Categories: Articles, Business, Results

Tags: allente, nordics, viaplay