Canal+ migrates 490k subscribers to digital in 2009

PARIS — Vivendi (Paris: VIV) has released results for 2009.

Canal+ Group

• Strong portfolio growth reaching 12.5m subscriptions
• Canal+ France: 238k net adds in 2009, strong recruitments in Q4 in metropolitan France
• Poland / Vietnam: 259k net adds in 2009
• 490k analogue subscribers migrated to digital in 2009
• 93% of Canal+ subscribers are now digital

Canal+ Group revenues were €4,553 million, a 1.6% increase at constant currency (stable at actual currency compared to 2008). During the last twelve months, Canal+ France’s portfolio (metropolitan France, French overseas territories and Africa) grew by 238,000 individual and collective subscriptions to reach 10.8 million, compared to 10.6 million at the end of 2008. Including international, Canal+ Group’s portfolio reached 12.5 million subscriptions, compared to 12.0 million at the year-end 2008.

In metropolitan France, 2009 was marked by the resumption of subscription take-ups in the fall. At year-end 2009, digital subscribers reached 93% of the total portfolio, compared to 80% at year-end 2008, notably due to the increased migration of Canal+ analog subscribers to digital. In total, 490,000 subscribers transferred to digital since the beginning of the year, an increase of 142,000 since the end of September 2009.

At the year-end 2009, the churn rate of digital subscribers was 12.3%, compared to 13.0% at the year-end 2008. Average revenues per subscriber (ARPU) rose by nearly €1 to reach €44.7, notably due to increased subscriber fees and higher penetration of options and services, such as Foot+ on XBox, Canal+ on iPhone, and The Cube. Operations in Africa and in French overseas territories continued to grow and contributed to the Group’s good performance.

Concerning the Group’s other operations, Canal+ in Poland posted net portfolio growth of 160,000 over the period. StudioCanal continued to expand, notably with international operations. i>Télé revenues continue to grow, resulting from a strong increase in audience ratings.

Portfolio Canal+ Group (in ‘000):

                            Dec 31,  Dec 31, 
                               2009     2008  Change
                            -------  -------  ------
Total                        12,471   11,974    +497
  of which Canal+ France*    10,829   10,591    +238
  of which International**    1,642    1,383    +259

* Individual and collective subscriptions at Canal+, CanalSatin metropolitan France, overseas territories and Africa. As of Dec 31, 2009, includes the acquisition of Multichoice’s French-speaking subscriber base in Central Africa (+39k)
**Poland, Vietnam

Global Village Telecom (GVT)

On November 13, 2009, Vivendi took control of Brazil’s GVT, which was fully consolidated from that date. Vivendi plans to bring its experience to GVT to support its move into pay-TV.

More: Earnings Release