STREAMING firm Netflix is hiking the price of some of its UK subscriptions.
The basic subscription will climb £1 from £6.99 a month to £7.99 while premium will rise £2 from £15.99 to £17.99.
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The company has struggled in recent years after it cracked down on password sharing which led to it losing a million subscribers in the first part of the year.
But it added nearly nine million subscribers in the three months to the end of September.
It was the company’s best quarter in terms of customer additions since 2020 when pandemic lockdowns sparked a surge in demand.
Netflix — which this month launched a hit documentary on footie legend David Beckham, left — has introduced an extra fee to allow more than one household to share the same account. The company said this accounted for the majority of sign-ups.
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It also launched a cheaper plan, with adverts which accounted for about a third of the new sign-ups in countries where it was available.
The streamer said many users seemed to be choosing that option rather than quitting the service.
The price hike for the ad-free service is seen as the firm nudging people towards the advertising funded plan, which could have big potential to drive profits. Subscribers are expected to be told about the price increases when they come to renew their service.
New subscribers will be unable to get the current basic plan which is ad free. They will instead be offered the premium service at £17.99 or a standard plan with ads for £4.99.
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A standard plan without adverts with streaming on two devices at once will be available at £10.99.
Netflix last raised its prices in March 2022. Its quarterly revenue was up 7.8 per cent year-on-year at £7billion. Meanwhile its profits hit £1.37billion. The news was welcomed by the market which sent the company’s shares soaring 16 per cent in early trading on Wall Street last night.
Quilter Cheviot equity research analyst Ben Barringer said: “After a difficult couple of years Netflix’s turnaround is complete as its recent efforts to crack down on password sharing and subscribers leaving have paid off.”
Tesla loses its spark
ELECTRIC car maker Tesla said revenue climbed 9 per cent to £19billion in the past three months.
But that was below market hopes for the business run by Elon Musk, right, and its shares slumped more than 8 per cent in early trading on Wall Street. The firm’s net income reached £1.6billion, compared with £32.7billion this time last year.
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Tesla, whose Roadster model is shown above, has been hit by increased expenses linked to its upcoming Cybertruck model and AI spending. However, its batteries and solar panel sales were more positive.
This week Tesla cut the price of its cheapest car the Model 3 in Britain in a bid to offset weak sales.
Sales dip as KitKat price up
KITKAT owner Nestle said sales have been falling with shoppers being put off by higher prices.
It increased prices by 8.4 per cent over the first nine months of the year and has faced criticism for refusing to pass lower costs on to families.
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Despite selling 0.6 per cent fewer products over the period the increases helped sales grow 7.8 per cent.
Boss Mark Schneider said: “Growth was driven by pricing as we continued to navigate historic inflation levels.”
KitKat continued to gain market share, Nestle said, helping its confectionery arm which also includes Smarties and Quality Street to high single-digit growth.
Its Purina Petcare business, which includes Felix and Gourmet, also performed well.
Mr Schneider said: “We are seeing the benefits of our portfolio optimisation initiatives and investments.”
Star buy from U.S
UK online property site OnTheMarket has been snapped up by US property giant CoStar for almost £100million.
The firm said it wanted to crack the “estimated £8trillion residential property market”.
CoStar will pay 110p a share, valuing the group at £99million and marking a 56 per cent premium on shares.
OnTheMarket said it hoped the deal would help it take on Rightmove and Zoopla.
Nokia job axe
NOKIA will fire 14,000 workers in a cost-cutting exercise.
The company employs 86,000 globally and has UK offices in Bristol, Cambridge and Reading.
The Finnish phone firm has not yet revealed where the axe will drop in the bid to save £1billion in three years. Boss Pekka Lundmark said: “The most difficult business decisions to make are ones that impact our people.
“We will support everyone affected by this process.”
Sales fell by a fifth in the three months to September.
LONDON bus firm Arriva is being snapped up by US private equity company I Squared in a £1.4billion deal after it missed out last year on FirstGroup.
Arriva has about 34,000 staff. The deal is expected to complete next year.
Deliveroo coup
DELIVEROO reported a slight recovery in the last three months with revenue climbing three per cent to £487million.
Orders fell one per cent to 70million. But the group said inflation is “moderating”.
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Boss Will Shu said the group is making “clear progress in promoting value in the app, which remains so important given the tough consumer backdrop”.
UK and Ireland revenue climbed seven per cent to £297million and orders rose three per cent after efforts to improve service.
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