Canal+ Group subscribers boost Vivendi

[BGonaSTICK]

A strong performance at French pay TV group Canal+ helped Vivendi towards a rise in first-half revenues yesterday, as subscribers increased by more than a quarter of a million.

Canal+ Group's revenues rose 10.7% in the six months to June 30 compared with the first half of 2005, up from €1.7bn (US$2.16bn) to €1.8bn. This helped Vivendi achieve a 5.2% overall rise in revenues to €9.6bn.

Revenues from pay TV operations in France were up 11% overall, largely driven by Canal+ and CanalSat portfolio growth, with group subscriptions totalling 8.2 million, 280,000 up on the six months to June 2005.

Canal+ revenues alone were up 8%, partly thanks to continuous growth in advertising and good audience ratings, Vivendi said.

At the end of June 2006, Canal+ Le Bouquet represented 56% of the channel's total portfolio, compared with 49% at the end of June 2005. CanalSat revenues increased mainly due to portfolio growth.

Revenues from pay TV operations in Poland, meanwhile, were up mainly due to subscriber growth, said the company, and revenues for Canal+ Group's movie business were up 6%.