Canal+ shares crash on weak MultiChoice outlook

French media group Canal+’s warning on Wednesday that subsidiary MultiChoice Group had lost subscribers and would see further revenue erosion, resulted in its shares cratering 23.5% in their worst one-day performance since listing in London 15 months ago.

Canal+ acquired MultiChoice in 2025 in a move designed to further its ambition to become a global entertainment platform across Europe, Africa and Asia by expanding its foothold in English-speaking Africa.

That strategy has clearly got off to a rocky start.

The company reported a drop in subscribers at MultiChoice from 14.9 million to 14.4 million in 2025 and unveiled a €100-million plan to revive the business, including hiring more than a thousand salespeople across 16 African markets.

“The first quarter of MultiChoice’s consolidation and the specifics of the African development plan are unlikely to excite investors,” AlphaValue analysts said.

Canal+ is seeking to revive the struggling pay-TV operator with what CEO Maxime Saada called a shift from a “central heavy organisation to boots on the ground”.

“It won’t be easy, we know that,” Saada said, noting that redesigning commercial operations in 16 African markets remains a “complex task”.

‘Ahead of plan’

Saada said the company is “ahead of plan” on synergies, upgrading its 2026 target to €250-million from €150-million previously, partly due to shutting down the loss-making Showmax after determining there were no chances of recovery, in agreement with the platform’s board and shareholder Comcast.

Read: Canal+ brands Showmax an ‘expensive failure’

Canal+ said it expected to complete a secondary listing in Johannesburg in June, ahead of the September window previously announced.  — Leo Marchandon and Paul Sandle, (c) 2026 Reuters, with additional reporting by Duncan McLeod, (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media