Vivendi has reported group revenues of EUR 3.82 billion for the last three months of 2017, representing an organic growth rate of 6.8 percent year-on-year (+23.0% on a reported basis, including Havas). The movement in underlying revenues improved at Universal Music (+8.2% from +5.3% in Q3) and turned positive at Canal Plus (+ 5.7% from -0.5% in Q3), confirming a better commercial performance for the broadcaster’s French operations.
The full-year results reinforced Universal Music's position as Vivendi’s largest division, with EUR 5.67 billion worth of revenues (+10.0% on 2016), ahead of Canal Plus with EUR 5.25 billion (+0.3%), accounting for 46 percent and 42 percent of group annual revenues respectively. In line with the statement issued in January, Vivendi's full-year revenues grew by 4.9 percent, falling slightly short of previous guidance.
The group said that it accelerated Canal Plus' reorganisation plans in France, which included the closure of a large call centre, incurring nearly EUR 40 million in restructuring costs during the fourth quarter. When excluding these costs, the company said that Canal Plus' EBITA stood at EUR 6 million, compared with a loss of EUR 162 million in Q4 2016. The broadcaster is now targeting EBITA before restructuring charges of around EUR 450 million for 2018. At Universal Music, quarterly EBITA improved to EUR 319 million, up 14.6 percent on an organic basis.
Canal Plus' commercial performance continued to progress in France, with an ongoing drop in churn and gross additions rising for a third consecutive quarter (153,000 from 136,000 in Q3 2017). Compared with 2016, however, the annual increase in wholesale subscriptions (+189,000) was not enough to offset the decline in direct subscribers (-304,000). As a result, the French operations closed 2017 with a customer base of 8.08 million, including 3.12 wholesale subscriptions (mainly via Orange and Free), down by 115,000 from the end of 2016. In Africa, the positive trend in customer growth continued, with 693,000 net additions over the course of 2017 and a base of 3.46 million at end-December.
