The Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT) badge will be displayed at its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden on October 1, 2018. Photo: Olof Swanberg/Reuters
STOCKHOLM, July 22 (Reuters) – NENT (NENTb.ST), the Swedish company challenging streaming giants like Netflix (NFLX.O) in Scandinavia, has seen subscriber numbers and quarterly operating income grow as Scandinavia grows.
Its streaming service Viaplay gained 140,000 subscribers this quarter, including 27,000 in non-Nordic countries where it rolls out in March.
Total subscribers increased by 21% to 3.29 million subscribers.
NENT has increased its full-year target level of Viaplay subscribers from over 250,000 to 500,000 and expects to attract at least 400,000 new paid subscribers in the Nordic countries.
Viaplay’s international markets include Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and the company plans to start operating in Poland next month and in the US later this year.
Adjusted operating income increased from 156 million a year earlier to 244 million Swedish kronor (US$28.08 million).
Sales rose 31% to CZK 3.07 billion, but remained lower than the CZK 3.11 billion that analysts had expected, according to a Refinitiv Eikon estimate.
(1 US dollar = 8.6902 Swedish krona)
(Additional reporting by Subanta Mukherjee in Stockholm; Editing: Helena Soderbalm and Jason Neely)
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