Canal+ domestic losses contribute to revenue decline

Canal+ continued to lose domestic subscribers in the quarter to June, weighing on its revenues.

The group lost 68,000 subscribers in France over the quarter, contributing to a year-on-year reduction of 263,000. In terms of global subscriber numbers, French domestic losses were compensated by international gains, boosted by coverage of the Africa Cup of Nations, with 361,000 international additions contributing to an overall net gain of 98,000.

The problems in the French market led to a reduction of 2.2% constant currency reduction in the top line to €2.518 billion.

On the plus side, parent Vivendi said that the pay TV operator had added 45,000 new customers to its flagship channel.

StudioCanal, the group’s production arm, saw revenues decrease year-on-year with the comparison with 2018 impacted by the release in that year of hit movie Paddington 2.

Canal+ EBITA before restructuring charges was €236millin, down from €249 million.

Parent company Vivendi was boosted once again by the strong performance of Universal Music Group, whose revenues jumped by €630 million, and the consolidation of Editis, contributing an additional €260 million. Overall, Vivendi saw revenues rise by 6.7% at constant currency to €7.353 billion, while EBITA grew by 27.6% to €718 million.

Vivendi’s other main asset, advertising outfit Havas, posted flat year-on-year revenues at constant currency of €1.114 billion.