Streaming service Quickflix suffers $10m loss
Movie and TV streaming service Quickflix has blown out its full year loss to more than $10 million after ramping up spending to attract new customers.
Quickflix made a net loss of $10.2 million for the year to June 30, up almost 60 per cent from $6.4 million a year ago.
Revenue slipped six per cent to $18 million, but improved during the second half as the company targeted customer growth.
Quickflix added more than 21,000 subscribers during the year, taking its total paying customer base to almost 123,000.
But the growth came at a cost as the company’s spending on marketing and new content almost doubled to $3.24 million.
Content-related costs were more than $1 million higher at $9.3 million.
Nine Entertainment Co. bought more than 91 million convertible preference shares in Quickflix from US cable giant HBO during the year, fuelling speculation of a potential takeover.
The shares have been transferred to StreamCo, Nine’s new streaming joint venture with Fairfax.
Along with StreamCo, Quickflix faces an increasingly competitive local market: Foxtel has launched its own service, called Presto, and Seven West Media is in talks to enter the sector.
US-based giant Netflix also has an estimated 200,000 Australian customers despite not officially operating here.