Saudi broadcaster MBC Group beams up 515% profit growth for 2024

Dubai: The Middle East's biggest broadcaster, MBC Group, beamed in around SR4.2 billion as 2024 revenues, which is a robust 13.1% gain over the year before.

Now, when it comes to net profit, that's up an eye-popping 515.2% to SR426.1 million.

Going forward, the company will focus on creating 'premium content' for its platforms, it said.

"We are not only shaping the future of story-telling but also driving economic and cultural progress across the region," said Waleed bin Ibrahim AlIbrahim, Chairman of MBC

"2024 was a strong year, with profitability increasing more than six-fold," said Sam Barnett, CEO of MBC Group.

"Shahid (the Arabic video-on-demand platform) made notable progress toward profitability. The Group will continue to further enhance Shahid’s profitability and deepen its premium content offering.

"By maintaining a disciplined approach to costs while expanding its revenue streams, the Group is well-positioned to shape the future of entertainment in MENA, while delivering long-term value for its audiences, advertisers, and shareholders."

It was late 2023 that MBC came up with one of the most successful Saudi and Middle East IPOs. The issue size was $2.2 billion.

"Since our IPO, we have remained focused on delivering sustainable growth and strengthening MBC Group’s position as the region’s leading media and entertainment company," said Barnett.

Full-year revenues for the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) and advertising video-on-demand 'grew strongly'.

This led to a 'narrowing' in Shahid’s losses by 53.8% year-on-year. The SVOD revenues increased 20.1% to SR868.1 million, helped by a 25.6% increase in subscribers to top the 5 million mark.

The AVOD revenues rose 65.4% to SR185.7 million, with active monthly users reaching 18.6 million.

The way things are, MBC reckons Shahid will hit 'break even by 2027'.

"The platform will focus on expanding its reach by targeting untapped demographics, while enhancing its user experience to drive audience engagement and revenue growth," is what MBC is aiming for.

"A key priority for the Group is to sustain dominance in viewership and advertising market share across its FTA (free-to-air) channels to reinforce the strength of its traditional broadcast business," said a statement.

"Simultaneously, the Group is committed to further cementing SHAHID’s leadership in the MENA video streaming market by scaling its SVOD and AVOD revenue streams."

"The development of premium content that resonates with MENA audiences and has global appeal will remain central to MBC Group’s growth strategy," the statement adds.