Canal+ growth boosts Vivendi as French giant beats expectations

French media group Vivendi has seen a successful Q3 as a result of growth at pay TV business Canal+.

Canal+ is now Vivendi’s biggest business unit following the spin-off of Universal Music Group earlier this year. 

Overall, Vivendi’s revenue grew to €2.48 billion, beating analyst expectations of €2.26 billion. Its Q3 sales rose by 10% from the year prior.

Its total sales for the quarter totalled €1.47 billion, with the bulk of that coming from Canal+. Sales at the pay TV unit grew 6.3% pro forma. This was buoyed by global results and a 35% increase at Studiocanal.

Revenues from television operations in mainland France amounted to €2.29 billion, up slightly compared to the first nine months of 2020. Revenues from international operations also increased, rising from €1.59 billion for the first nine months of 2020 to €1.63 billion for the first nine months of 2021.

However it was the French ad unit Havas Group which experienced the biggest growth. Its revenues increased 21.8% to €590 million. Its revenue grew organically at a 17.8% rate, with Europe and North America the biggest contributors at 18.4% and 15.5% organic growth respectively.