By Jonathan Easton
Vivendi has reported a solid start to 2022, driven by its pay TV and Havas business units.
The French media giant reported total Q1 2022 revenues of €2.38 billion(US$2.55billion), up from €2.1 billion year-over-year. Its first-quarter sales grew by 7.9 per cent, and up 13.4 per cent YoY.
Vivendi attributed this increase to revenues of €1.446 billion at Canal+ – a year-over-year increase of €89 million (6.5%) and €591 million at the Havas multimedia and PR business (up 17.7% from €502 million in Q1 2021).
Vivendi Village, its live entertainment business, was also highlighted as a growth area thanks to the gradual recovery of the live performance activities, while Prisma Media’s revenues were up 2.2 per cent.
For Canal+, both the French and international businesses performed well. Vivendi said that the domestic unit experienced an increase of 6.5 per cent YoY, with international operations up 6.2 per cent. Movie distribution subsidiary Studiocanal saw its revenues increase by 4.5 per cent YoY, thanks to solid performance of titles including Superwho?, Waiting for Bojangles and Goliath.
In its letter to investors, Vivendi also highlighted its ongoing pursuit of Lagardère, the media company which owns major publishing imprint Hachette Livre, weekly news magazine Paris Match and Virgin Radio.
Vivendi’s public tender offer for Lagardère’s shares was opened on April 14, with a deadline set for May 20. It has clarified that, should the deal go through, it would like Arnaud Lagardère to remain as chairman and CEO of Lagardère.
