Earnings: Vivendi Posts Higher Q1 Profits, Revenues

By David Kaplan - Tue 15 May 2007 01:46 PM PST

Vivendi (VIV.PA) reported Q1 earnings of $1.04 billion (771 million euros), a 22 percent increase over Q106. Revenue was $6.7 billion, up 5.3 percent over the same period last year. The company attributed its positive result to its games, Maroc Telecom and pay-TV unit Canal Plus divisions. Units like Universal Music Group did not perform as well, as it reported sales declined 8.7 percent to $1.3 billion. Still, digital revenues gained 54 percent to $218 million. Details contained in its release included:

-- For Maroc, the Moroccan telco’s revenues rose 14 percent to $747 million. Mobile revenues in particular grew 22.3 percent to $508 million.

-- The telecom added 11.3 million customers, an increase of 32.6 percent over Q106.

--By contrast, the French mobile telecom SFR’s revenues fell slightly by 1.8 percent to $2.8 million compared to the same period last year. Network mobile revenues were also down 0.9 percent to $2.7 million. (Vivendi holds a 55.8 percent equity stake in SFR, while Vodafone, which Vivendi has recently expressed interest in purchasing, holds 43.9 percent; the remaining 0.3 percent is owned by individual investors.)

-- Vivendi Games’ revenues came in at $395 million, jumping 117.2 percent, thanks to the January release of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, an expansion of its subscription-based, multiplayer online role-playing game. The company is working on releasing the expanded game in China. Earnings release (PDF) | Webcast