Vivendi: Very Good First Quarter - 2008 Outlook Confirmed

Vivendi (Paris: VIV) first quarter 2008 revenues amounted to €5,280 million compared to €5,020 million for the first quarter of 2007, an increase of €260 million (+5.2%, representing +6.9% at constant currency).

Canal+ Group

“¢ Canal+ Group’s revenues were €1,115 million, up 4.5%. Revenues from pay-TV operations in France increased to €971 million (+5%), mainly driven by Canal+ and CanalSat portfolio growth, up 180,000 subscriptions compared to the same period last year, and higher advertising revenues. Subscription growth included a negative adjustment of 64,000 subscriptions resulting from a portfolio change of scope to include viable contracts only.

Subscribers (000's)        March 2008        March 2007        Change
                           ----------        ----------        ------
CanalSat and TPS                5,176             5,055           121
Canal+ [Le Bouquet]             5,277 [74%]       5,217 [64%]      60
     Total                     10,453            10,272           181

As of March 31, 2008, nearly half of TPS subscribers had already been transferred to the CanalSat platform.

Revenues from CanalOverseas grew 13% compared to last year and also contributed to the good performance of pay-TV operations in France.

Revenues from Canal+ Group’s other operations amounted to €144 million, in line with last year’s results. While StudioCanal posted lower revenues mainly due to calendar effects, revenues from i>Télé and Canal+ in Poland grew sharply.

“¢ Canal+ Group reported EBITA, excluding transition costs linked to the TPS merger, of €197 million, versus €169 million for the first quarter of 2007, up 16.6%. Including transition costs, EBITA was €170 million, versus €164 million for the same period in 2007.

These transition costs mainly resulted from technical migration of TPS subscribers to CanalSat.

EBITA growth was mainly driven by strong performance of pay-TV operations in France. In addition to higher revenues thanks to portfolio growth, EBITA benefited from lower subscriber acquisition and programming costs. Results were, however, negatively impacted (-€32 million) by an unfavorable but temporary Ligue 1 broadcasting schedule (two extra match days compared to the first quarter of 2007).

EBITA from other operations were slightly down due to lower royalties paid to StudioCanal under the Working Title deal and despite higher revenues from i>Télé and Canal+ in Poland.

More: Earnings Release; Presentation