Corre Vivendi (+4,2% to 9,87 euros) on the Paris Stock Exchange after the publication of the accounts for the first quarter closed with sharply increasing revenues thanks to the growth of all the Canal+ group's businesses
Vivendi's first quarter: growing revenues, agreement with Apple on Studiocanal
In the first quarter i revenues of the Vivendi group rose by 3,3% (+2% at constant exchange rates) to 2,29 billion euros from the 2,217 recorded in the same period of 2022.
The French media company reports the growth recorded by all the activities of the Canal+ Group and in particular by studiocanal (+13,6% compared to the first quarter of 2022) driven by the success of various films. “Canal+ also pursues the content aggregator strategy by enriching its offer thanks to the recent partnership with AppleTV+”, underlines the note from Vivendi.
Strong commercial momentum is also recorded in Havas and the strong growth of the business of Gameloft (+14,1% vs Q2022 XNUMX), powered by Disney Dreamlight Valley. Also, the new game disney speedstorm will be launched this month.
Yannick Bolloré, chairman of the supervisory board of Vivendi, e Arnaud de Puyfontaine, chairman of the management board, "all our activities progressed in the first quarter of 2023. Many positive signs have been recorded in recent months".
“The historic agreement reached with Apple – continue the two managers – confirms Canal+'s leading position in France as a content aggregator. Studiocanal has once again demonstrated its ability to produce films for a large audience. Havas has signed major contracts with several prestigious clients. The success of Disney Dreamlight Valley and the promising debut of its Disney Speedstorm game are testament to the merits of Gameloft's strategy transformation."
Vivendi: loss of 1 billion in 2022 due to Tim's fair value adjustment
As already known Vivendi, which is the first shareholder of Tim (+0,63% in Milan after -13 last week) closed 2022 with a loss attributable to shareholders of 1,01 billion euros in 2022, compared to a profit of 24,69 billion in 2021 (which included the capital gain on Umg). For Vivendi, it was in particular that weighed the adjustment to fair value of the investment in Tim with a negative deconsolidation effect of 1,347 billion. The shareholders' meeting scheduled for today will be called to approve the 2022 budget.
In the meantime, as of December 31st, as the report to the financial statements recalls, since Vivendi no longer exercises significant influence over Tim following the resignation of its two representatives from the board, Vivendi no longer accounts for the investment in Tim to equity.
With regard to the Telecom network affair, "we left the Telecom Italia Board of Directors" to play "the role of shareholders in a free and independent manner", specified Arnaud de Puyfontaine, CEO of Vivendi, during the shareholders' meeting. The manager confirmed that the French group intends to have a "long-term" role in the Italian company. Now "what we are doing with the institutions in Italy and other stakeholders" is aimed at "ensuring that the real value of the group and its network is recognised". There is a dialogue that is going on,” he concluded.
The results of the different activities
As for other activities, Canal + it recorded revenues of 1,478 billion, up 2,2% compared to 1,446 in the same quarter of 2021; Havas it has a turnover of 611 million, an increase of 3,5%; Prism Media it got 73 million (0,4%). Revenues dthe Gamelofts amounted to 71 million, with an increase of 14,8% while Vivendi Village recorded a turnover of 33 million (+20,1%).
Vivendi: Put option with Imi to sell Editis
Furthermore, in the first quarter, the revenues of Editis, a group for which Vivendi has announced an agreement to put option to sell 100% to International Media Invest, amounted to €150 million, down by 6,3% compared to the same period in 2022, due to a less robust publication schedule. Compared to 2019, the year before the Covid crisis, revenues for the first quarter of 2023 are up 11,6 percent. According to French media, the deal announced today follows exclusive talks disclosed last month with the subsidiary of Czech Media Invest, founded by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. The agreement is part of the remedies proposed to obtain the approval of the European Union on the merger of Vivendi with Lagardere.
