Vivendi, the parent company of French pay TV company Canal Plus Group and advertising banner Havas Group, saw its revenues increase by 13.4% to €2.3 billion ($2.4 billion) during the first quarter of 2022.
The company’s financial results were mainly driven by the growth of Canal Plus Group, Havas Group, as well Vivendi Village, which is behind live events, and the video game outfit Gameloft. Results also took into account Prisma Media, the recently acquired publishing group.
During the first quarter of 2022 Canal Plus Group’s revenues reached €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion), a 6.5% year-on-year increase. Revenues from television in mainland France and international operations went up by 6.5% and 6.2%, respectively.
Studiocanal, the TV and film banner, saw its revenues rise by 4.5% in one year, thanks to the performance of a few movies such as “Superwho?,” “Waiting for Bojangles” and “Goliath,” as well as a large volume of library sales.
Canal Plus Group and ViacomCBS recently inked a long-term strategic partnership which will allow the pay TV group to distribute Paramount+ as part of its channel bundle by the end of the year, along with nine ViacomCBS channels. The deal with ViacomCBS will also allow Canal Plus Group to air Paramount films in exclusive premiere on Canal Plus in France and Switzerland six months after their theatrical release.
Among other international pacts, Canal Plus also entered the Austrian market with the launch of a new streaming platform in partnership with A1 Telekom Austria; and it completed the acquisition of 70% of SPI International, a global media group operating 42 television channels and multiple digital products in more than 60 countries.
Vivendi also recently launched a takeover bid for the shares of Lagardere, the French media, publishing and travel retail conglomerate, on April 14 for an initial period of 25 trading days.
