ITVS offsets weak NAR: ITV H1 2017 results

3 August 2017

ITV H1 2017 results are in line with guidance contained in its Q1 trading update issued in May, while full year guidance has remained largely unaltered

The 8% decline in TV NAR, timing of programme deliveries and increased business investment were main reasons for the 8% drop in group EBITA despite growth elsewhere limiting the decline in group external revenues to 3%

ITV continues to deliver strong group profit margins of close to 30%; however, online poses several threats to TV NAR. The threats can only be increased by the quest for retransmission fees, whilst the spate of production acquisitions raises questions about risk management

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Brief reprieve, challenging outlook: European mobile in Q4 2020

21 April 2021

Mobile revenue growth improved slightly to -3% this quarter, primarily thanks to a weakening in the drag from the loss of roaming.

European MNOs are guiding to improving trends in 2021—broadly stable revenues and EBITDA vs declines of 5-7% in 2020. This bodes well for guidance from the UK players around mid-May.

However, the outlook is far from rosy, with Q1 2021 still very challenging ahead of an annualisation of the pandemic drags from the June quarter. Growth prospects remain contingent on the resumption of travel and the economic climate.

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Netflix: Muted growth, but after a massive 2020, does it matter?

21 April 2021

Subscriber growth is down but the benefits from COVID-19 have been banked and are enduring. The pandemic pulled forward new subscribers, delayed churn and higher engagement allowed price rises to be pushed through—ARPU in US/Canada, for example has now risen 74 cents in one quarter (to $14.25).

Is the Netflix narrative beginning to change from subscriber adds to engagement? As markets mature the obvious metric that could drive a corporate narrative is engagement, which is higher on Netflix than competitors and growing.

Netflix still lacks tentpole IP in a competitive space. However, the new deal with Sony conceivably gives Netflix access to IP such as Spider-Man, Karate Kid, Ghostbusters, Jumanji and Venom.

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The push for OpenRAN: Careful what you wish for

21 April 2021

Europe’s larger MNOs are falling over each other to demonstrate support for OpenRAN, which has become a primarily operator-driven standards initiative, with governments also firmly behind it.

This is driven by a desire to improve equipment interoperability from the current de facto monolithic standards, improve supplier diversity, and ultimately drive down cost.

While some movement towards interoperability is perhaps overdue, OpenRAN is not a panacea, and some trade-offs between price, performance, supplier diversity and reliability have to be accepted.

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