Vivendi reported revenues of EUR 3.87 billion for the three months to March, up 4.4 percent year-on-year at constant currency and perimeter (+11.9% on a reported basis). The group's leading revenue-generating business, Universal Music, remained the best performing subsidiary, posting an organic growth rate of 12.7 percent (+6.3% in Q4), based on first-quarter sales worth EUR 1.77 billion. Broadcaster Canal Plus saw revenue increase 1.0 percent organically to EUR 1.37 billion (+1.4% in Q4), as growth in its international activities (+8.7%) more than offset a negative performance from French operations (-0.7%) and Studiocanal (-25.0%).
Commenting on the Covid-19 pandemic, Vivendi said that it remained confident in the resilience of its main business lines despite ongoing uncertainty. Some of its subsidiaries, notably Havas, Editis and Vivendi Village, suffered declining revenues in March and are expected to be affected during the second quarter. In this context, the group has indicated that it is unable to forecast the impact of the crisis on its full-year results at this stage.
In France, Canal Plus' overall pay-TV subscriptions fell to 8.36 million as of 31 March, down from 8.42 million at end-2019 and a restated 8.51 million a year earlier. The split between direct and wholesale customers has not been released for the first quarter. The broadcaster highlighted that net additions for its Canal+ channel amounted to 62,000 in the year to March. When combining French and international subscriptions, the company ended the quarter with a customer base of 20.06 million.
