Vivendi
Written on March 1, 2008
Europe’s biggest entertainment company, Vivendi, posted solid 2007 earnings on Friday helped by the success of its World of Warcraft video game and said its hunt for acquisitions was not over.
Once debt-crippled, the owner of record giant Universal Music Group has replenished its coffers and embarked on a multi-billion dollar buying spree over the past 18 months, gobbling up music publishers, telecoms operators and video games.
“We will continue to look out for opportunities,” Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy told a news conference, adding that it was “legitimate” for Vivendi to look at companies such as German broadcaster Premiere.
The French telecoms and media group said it expected sales to rise by as much as 40 percent between 2007 and 2009, buoyed in part by acquisitions.
Vivendi met expectations with a 8.3 percent rise in 2007 adjusted net profit to 2.83 billion euros ($4.27 billion) on Friday while an 8 percent rise in earnings before interest, taxes and amortization (EBITA) to 4.72 billion was below some analysts’ forecasts.
It forecast similar growth this year, which disappointed some investors.
“Vivendi is conservative in terms of guidance,” UBS said in a note low fees payday loan. Another analyst based in Paris said its outlook was “not as aggressive as expected.”
The French media group posted revenues of 21.657 billion euros in 2007, up 8 percent, and said it aimed to raise this to 30 billion for 2009.
Filed in: technology.