Vivendi 3Q Earnings Beat Analysts' Estimates
November 09 2016 - 12:40PM
Dow Jones News
By Nick Kostov
PARIS-Media group Vivendi SA posted third-quarter earnings that
topped analyst' estimates as its Universal Music Group unit
benefited from a jump in online streaming and subscriptions.
Adjusted net income was 339 million euros, swinging into the
black compared with the same period last year, Vivendi said
Wednesday. Analysts had predicted profit of EUR177.2 million, the
average of six estimates.
Vivendi's earnings before interest, taxes and amortization, a
measure of profitability closely watched by analysts, rose 27% to
EUR277 million, pushed higher by a doubling of its core earnings at
its music business, Universal Music Group.
Revenue rose 6% to EUR2.67 billion.
Run by Chairman Vincent Bolloré, Vivendi is seeking to piece
together a media empire focused on Southern Europe with interests
in TV, music and video games. But Mr. Bolloré has ruffled feathers
in recent months, falling out with the founders and managers at
video game publisher Ubisoft SA and more recently with Mediaset
SpA.
Its Canal Plus unit, which accounts for more than half of the
company's sales, has suffered from competition for sports rights
and from online video services. The unit is set to completely
overhaul its offers this month and its turnaround plan in France is
"well underway," the company said in the earnings release.
Universal Music Group, meanwhile, has been the bright spot,
thanks to a large jump in online streaming which easily offset
continuing declines in sales of CDs and digital downloads. As a
result of the expansion of streaming, Universal Music Group is
expanding in a number of markets, including China, Russia, Brazil
and Africa, Vivendi said.
-Write to Nick Kostov at nick.kostov@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 09, 2016 12:25 ET (17:25 GMT)
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