Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada Courtesy of Canal+ “2026 is shaping up to be a landmark year for StudioCanal, with strong box-office performances from Pressure and the recent releases Les Misérables, The Doll (Lalka) and the third Shaun the Sheep film,” Canal+ Group CEO Maxime Saada said on Thursday in providing a revenue update for the company. “Our bold and diverse slate includes Ink, which opened the Venice Film Festival, Elsinore, winner of the International People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and the highly anticipated Violette (Changer l’eau des fleurs).”
Canal+ on Thursday posted total revenue for the first nine months of 2026 of €6.41 billion ($7.20 billion), up 37.5 percent, driven by the acquisition of African pay-TV giant MultiChoice. Excluding MultiChoice, revenue was up 1.3 percent to €4.65 billion ($5.22 billion). Third-quarter revenue was up 1.9 percent to €2.13 billion ($2.39 billion), driven by a 4.3 percent gain in the Content Production, Distribution and Other segment, which includes StudioCanal.
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Content Production, Distribution and Other revenue for the January-September period increased by 9.3 percent to €530 million ($596 million) on a restated basis, or by 5.4 percent on a like-for-like basis. “This was mainly driven by StudioCanal’s strong box office performance and international sales, as well as its increased scale following the acquisition of Lucky Red in February 2026,” the company said. Streamer Dailymotion was “negatively impacted by lower advertising in the third quarter, against a challenging market backdrop.”
All in all, “we remain well on track to achieve our 2026 synergies target and deliver our full-year guidance,” Saada said.
But Canal+ called out a potential financial challenge. As part of the 2027 budget, the French government has proposed to increase the value-added tax (VAT) rate applicable to Canal+’s activities in mainland France and overseas. “The group is actively challenging this measure with support from cinema organizations and sport federations and leagues,” the company emphasized. “The group has made progress in opposing the proposal, although the outcome remains uncertain. Should the proposal be adopted into law, the group intends to implement subscription price increases and significant cost reduction initiatives to mitigate the resulting financial impact.” Management said it expects such mitigation measures to show their full impact in 2028.
Meanwhile, management is bullish on momentum in Africa. “We are making good progress with the MultiChoice turnaround plan. In September, a new, simplified value proposition was launched in South Africa, providing subscribers with more content, greater choice, and better value for the same price,” the company said on Thursday. “The rollout of the new offers will continue across English- and Portuguese-speaking Africa over the coming months.”
And it noted: “Building on this progress, we have further strengthened our sports offering in Africa. We secured exclusive rights to all UEFA men’s club competitions across more than 40 countries for 2027-2031, the group’s first major sports rights acquisition covering all our markets on the continent, as well as rights across Africa for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations and its qualifying campaign.”
Canal+ shares were down 6.3 percent in London trading as of 9:30 a.m. local time.
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