Eros STX Global (ESGC) says Bollywood is booming, which will help it realize 50% growth in monthly paying subscribers to its Eros Now over-the-top (OTT) streaming platform and generate $1 billion annually in revenue by the end of 2022.
It just completed its merger between Eros International, an Indian media and entertainment company, and STX Filmworks, a vertically integrated global media producer and marketer. Co-chairman and CEO Robert Simonds says Eros STX is poised to create a "truly global digital entertainment enterprise."
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Exponential growth on the horizon
Simonds says the company remains "one of the top players in the digital OTT streaming space in what has quickly become one of the fastest growing markets in the world." Eros Now is the largest mobile video operator in the market among 25- to 39-year-olds, with a 59% share in Tier II and Tier III cities, according to Counterpoint Research.
Having one of the largest libraries of local and regional content -- a library that would be prohibitively expensive for a competitor to replicate -- plus the STX content now available to it, as well as what it is producing with Amazon.com and Netflix, makes Eros STX's growth trajectory stratospheric.
Simonds notes the coronavirus pandemic delayed the release of some movies, including the Gerard Butler vehicle Greenland, but it has also boosted subscriptions and consumer engagement on the Eros Now platform.
As a result, Eros STX issued guidance for calendar year 2022 that foresees monthly paid subscribers growing to 50 million from the current 33.8 million, and generating revenue of $1 billion, assuming the world returns to normal by the end of the year. Long-term earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization margins for the media company are also forecast to be in the range of 20% to 25%.
