Corrects to remove reference to the company producing "Mulholland Drive" and "The Pianist" in paragraph 2
Canal+ expects 400 million euros plus in cost savings from 2030
CFO says Showmax losses are unacceptable, considering options
Shares up around 14% to record high
By Leo Marchandon and Paul Sandle
Jan 29 (Reuters) - Canal+ CAN.L shares jumped around 14% to a record high on Thursday, after the pay-TV group said it expects over 400 million euros ($479 million) in annual cost savings following its acquisition of MultiChoice last year.
The company, which has a film production arm, is transforming into a global entertainment group with a presence in 70 countries to compete with Netflix NFLX.O and Disney DIS.N.
Chief Financial Officer Amandine Ferré said any deal between Netflix and Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O should not change the course for Canal+, but emphasized the importance of scale. "The bigger you are, the better leverage you will have in the discussion," she said.
Following the $3 billion MultiChoice deal, Ferré told Reuters that Canal+ was already finding cost savings through suppliers of set-top boxes, cloud services and satellites. The company has also refinanced MultiChoice's debt with a lower interest rate.
Canal+ expects cost savings to ramp up progressively, targeting over 150 million euros annual savings in 2026 and up to 400 million euros from 2030, compared to an estimated combined 2025 cost baseline of around 8 billion euros. It has already secured over 80 million euros for 2026.
SHOWMAX LOSSES ARE 'NOT ACCEPTABLE'
Ferré said Canal+ was assessing what to do about MultiChoice's streaming service Showmax, which she described as "a big issue" due to its losses. "We won't stay in this situation because the level of losses is not acceptable for us," she said.
Chief Executive Maxime Saada said on a call with analysts that the company was in "advanced discussions" with Comcast about the U.S. company's 30% stake in Showmax, but he did not comment further on the talks.
Overall subscriber growth was the main priority, Ferré said. "It will take time because you need to relaunch your distribution network."
The company is also evaluating its branding strategy between MultiChoice and Canal+ across different markets.
Canal+ said it could explore launching its app, already deployed in Europe and French-speaking Africa, across MultiChoice's markets in Africa in the future. It cited potential for growth on the continent, including projected population increase, GDP growth forecasts, and rising electrification.
Ferré said Canal+ was also assessing an acquisition of Asian streaming platform Viu, in which it already holds a stake and is the second-biggest platform in the Asian market behind Netflix.
($1 = 0.8349 euros)
(1 British pound = 1.1550 euros)
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Matt Scuffham, Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Elaine Hardcastle)
((leo.marchandon@thomsonreuters.com))