Foxtel CEO Says IPO Up to Owners of Australian Pay-TV Provider -- Update

   By Stuart Condie 
 

SYDNEY--Australian pay-TV provider Foxtel's future ownership is a matter for co-owners News Corp. and Telstra Corp. Ltd., Chief Executive Patrick Delaney said.

Analysts have speculated that Foxtel's owners could list the company on the Australian Securities Exchange, but Mr. Delaney on Thursday said any plans were beyond his remit. Foxtel is 65% owned by News Corp., with the remainder held by Australian communications firm Telstra.

"An IPO is a matter for the shareholders. The mission I've been given is to make sure the investment community, the people who invest in our shareholders, understand the value that we have delivered and the transformation journey we are on," Mr. Delaney said during a Foxtel strategy day.

Foxtel operated solely as a cable-TV business for the majority of its 26-year history until launching streaming subscriptions in 2013. By the 2021 fiscal year, its 4 million subscribers were streaming 23% of their viewing minutes.

The company is pivoting to a less capital-intensive streaming model amid competition from the likes of Netflix Inc. and Walt Disney Co. The company said it is targeting a capex-to-revenue ratio of 4% within three years, down from 7% in the 2021 fiscal year.

It is also aiming to add another million net subscribers and grow revenue to 3 billion Australian dollars (US$2.15 billion), from A$2.8 billion in fiscal 2021. An increase in the proportion of customers who are streaming should also lift margins, it said.

News Corp. also owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.

Write to Stuart Condie at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 29, 2021 22:27 ET (02:27 GMT)

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