By Ruth Bender
PARIS-- Vivendi SA on Tuesday reported a rise in first-quarter
adjusted earnings, but said net profit fell sharply without the
income from telecommunications assets it has sold off as the French
conglomerate continues to transform itself into a pure-play media
company.
Vivendi--which in recent years has substantially slimmed down
from a telecommunications to broadcasting conglomerate to a company
with activities mainly in pay TV and music recording--said net
profit slipped to EUR33 million ($37 million), compared with EUR431
million a year earlier, when the company was still profiting from
companies it had agreed to sell, such as French telecommunications
firm SFR.
Vivendi has in recent years sold an array of assets from
telecoms to videogames, and is now seeking to rebuild itself into a
large European media company under the tight leadership of chairman
and largest individual shareholder, Vincent Bolloré.
As Vivendi is waiting to receive the final checks from its asset
sales, all eyes have been on Mr. Bolloré, and how he plans to use
the company's cash pile to build a European media group.
"We aren't closing doors on any potential opportunities for the
new Vivendi," Chief Executive Arnaud de Puyfontaine said on a
conference call. "We are working on many different scenarios."
Mr. Bolloré in recent weeks tightened his grip on the company as
he increased his stake to 14.5% from 5%, and secured double voting
rights, a move that will give him even more leeway in steering the
future of Vivendi.
Vivendi on Tuesday said it made a buyout offer for Société
d'Edition de Canal Plus, a unit of its pay-TV group Canal Plus
Vivendi already indirectly controls with a 48.5% stake. The group
is offering EUR7.6 a share after a dividend payment of EUR0.25 per
share.
The deal is the second acquisition under Mr. Bolloré's
leadership. The group last month entered exclusive talks with
Orange SA to buy its video-streaming site Dailymotion. Mr. de
Puyfontaine said on a conference call that he expects to seal a
deal in the coming weeks.
Excluding the impact of the disposed assets, the group's
adjusted earnings before interest and taxes rose 18% on the year to
EUR218 million.
Sales at the group rose 7.6% to EUR2.49 billion, also excluding
disposed assets.
The group's Universal Music Group posted sales that were up 11%
to EUR1.1 billion from a year earlier, largely on the strength of
the dollar, but with online streaming revenue outpacing declines in
physical sales and digital downloads.
French pay-TV group Canal Plus increased revenue by 4.0% to
EUR1.37 billion, with rising subscriber numbers primarily in Africa
and Vietnam, the company said.
Mr. de Puyfontaine said that there was no reason for Vivendi to
change its guidance. The group in February said it expected slight
growth in revenue for 2015 and its adjusted net profit to rise by
10% because of lower restructuring and interest costs.
Write to Ruth Bender at Ruth.Bender@wsj.com
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