VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON) announced that Toffee, the digital entertainment platform of its Bangladesh subsidiary Banglalink, delivered record engagement metrics during the FIFA World Cup 2026. The platform generated 2 billion live watch minutes and attracted 20 million Monthly Active Users (MAU) over the 39-day tournament. This performance underscores the rapid evolution of Bangladesh’s digital ecosystem and highlights Toffee’s position as a leading streaming destination for premium sports content in the region.

The tournament coverage represented the largest paid digital streaming experience for football fans in Bangladesh to date. During the event, Toffee delivered 200 million views, with FIFA live channels drawing 6.6 million unique viewers. Each viewer watched an average of 300 minutes, equivalent to 5 hours of content. The infrastructure supported a peak concurrency of 1.5 million viewers, ensuring seamless delivery during high-demand knockout matches and the grand finale.

Engagement Metrics

The following table details key engagement figures reported by VEON for the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Toffee:

Final Match Performance

The World Cup Final emerged as the highest-engagement match of the tournament. It recorded 180 million watch minutes and attracted 1.5 million unique viewers, generating more than 8 million views on Toffee. Notably, 23% of viewers accessed the content via connected TVs, indicating a shift toward shared, living-room entertainment consumption rather than solely mobile viewing.

Advertising Revenue Drivers

The tournament served as a major digital advertising opportunity, with more than 25 brands partnering with Toffee. Approximately 80% of advertising inventory was sold before kick-off, signaling strong advertiser confidence. Premium ad placements delivered billions of impressions, reinforcing the platform’s value proposition for marketers targeting mass audiences in Bangladesh.

What the Numbers Show

The data reveals a significant diversification in viewing habits, with nearly a quarter of the audience utilizing connected TVs for the Final. This suggests that Toffee is successfully expanding beyond mobile-only usage to capture premium, multi-screen households. Furthermore, the high pre-sale rate of ad inventory (80%) indicates that advertisers are prioritizing guaranteed reach during major sporting events, potentially driving higher yield per impression compared to standard programming. The combination of massive scale (20 million MAU) and deep engagement (300 minutes per user) demonstrates a mature monetization model for live sports streaming in emerging markets.

VEON Ltd. and JazzWorld have completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in TPL Insurance Limited, a publicly listed insurance company in Pakistan, to expand digital insurance access across the country. The transaction, executed through VEON's subsidiary Jazz International Holding Limited (JIHL), integrates TPL Insurance into an ecosystem serving over 100 million customers. This move adds insurance to VEON's existing digital financial services portfolio, which includes JazzCash and Mobilink Bank under JazzWorld.

Following the completion of the mandatory tender offer, JIHL now holds 76.33% of the issued share capital of TPL Insurance. The aggregate consideration for the acquisition, including shares purchased from TPL Corp Limited and through the tender offer, amounted to PKR 4.55 billion (~USD 16.4 million). While the transaction is not expected to have a material impact on VEON's consolidated financial position, it is viewed as a strategic step to capture long-term growth in Pakistan's underpenetrated insurance market.

TPL Insurance is an AA-rated insurer and Pakistan's premier InsurTech, operating a fully digital platform that offers motor, health, fire, property, and other general insurance products. As of December 31, 2025, the company reported a Gross Written Premium of PKR 5.7 billion (~USD 20.6 million) and had issued more than 277,000 policies. The acquisition leverages TPL Insurance's digital capabilities and underwriting expertise to enhance the distribution scale of the VEON and JazzWorld ecosystem.

Key Financial Metrics

Kaan Terzioglu, Chief Executive Officer of VEON and Chairman of the JazzWorld Board of Directors, emphasized the strategic importance of the acquisition. He stated that combining a technology-driven insurer with the country's largest digital financial platform would make insurance simpler, more affordable, and more accessible. Terzioglu highlighted that this acquisition strengthens VEON's strategy of building integrated digital operator ecosystems that create everyday value for customers and sustainable long-term growth for shareholders.

Aamir Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer of JazzWorld, noted that Pakistan remains one of the world's most underinsured markets, with insurance penetration below 1% of GDP. He expressed confidence that combining TPL Insurance's capabilities with the reach and data insights of the JazzWorld ecosystem would accelerate innovation in embedded insurance. Ali Jameel, Chief Executive Officer of TPL Corp, added that joining the VEON and JazzWorld ecosystem provides the distribution scale necessary to unlock Pakistan's vast insurance potential.