Regulatory News:

Vivendi (Paris:VIV): 


 
Revenues (in     Third quarter                      First nine months 
millions of       of 2020                            of 2020 
euros) 
                        Change        Change at             Change        Change at 
                        year-on-year  constant              year-on-year  constant 
                                      currency and                        currency and 
                                      perimeter(1)                        perimeter(1) 
Universal Music  1,855 
Group                    +3.0%         +6.1%         5,314   +5.1%         +4.4% 
                 1,380 
 Canal+ Group            +7.3%         +0.9%         4,054   +6.6%         -0.8% 
 
 Havas Group      484    -14.5%        -14.1%        1,503   -10.6%        -12.5% 
 
 Editis(2)        232    +10.4%        +10.4%        494     +5.0%         -4.8% 
Other 
businesses(3)     71     -32.6%        -31.8%        233     -24.8%        -25.2% 
                 4,022                              11,598 
 Total Vivendi           +1.3%         +0.7%                 +2.4%         -1.1%

This press release contains unaudited consolidated revenues, established under IFRS.

REVENUES AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2020

For the third quarter of 2020, Vivendi's revenues were EUR4,022 million, up 1.3% compared to the same period in 2019, mainly resulting from the growth of Universal Music Group (UMG) (+3.0%), Canal+ Group (+7.3%) and Editis (+10.4%). At constant currency and perimeter(1) , revenues increased by 0.7% compared to the third quarter of 2019, primarily driven by the growth of UMG (+6.1%) and Editis (+10.4%).

For the first nine months of 2020, Vivendi's revenues were EUR11,598 million, up to 2.4% (-1.1% at constant currency and perimeter (1) ) compared to the same period in 2019. This increase was mainly due to the growth in revenues of Vivendi's two main businesses, UMG and Canal+ Group, demonstrating the resilience of their subscription-based activities. The increase was partially offset by the slowdown in the revenues of Havas Group and Vivendi Village, which were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the first nine months of 2020, Vivendi's net financial debt fell by EUR926 million, from EUR4,064 million as of December 31, 2019 to EUR3,138 million as of September 30, 2020. Vivendi has significant financing capacity. As of September 30, 2020, the Group's long-term credit lines were available in the amount of EUR3.1 billion.

As of September 30, 2020, the average "economic" term of the financial debt, calculated based on the assumption that available medium-term credit lines may be used to redeem the group's shortest-term borrowings, is 4.7 years (compared to 5.3 years as of December 31, 2019).

OPENING OF UMG'S SHARE CAPITAL

Vivendi successfully completed the first phase of the opening of UMG's share capital. On March 31, 2020, the Group finalized the sale of 10% of the share capital of UMG to a Tencent-led consortium based on an enterprise value of EUR30 billion for 100% of UMG.

The consortium, which is led by Tencent and includes Tencent Music Entertainment and other financial co-investors, has the option to acquire, on the same valuation basis, up to an additional 10% of the share capital of UMG until January 15, 2021.

This transaction is complemented by a separate agreement allowing Tencent Music Entertainment to acquire a minority stake in the capital of the UMG subsidiary owning its Greater China operations.

Following the success of this significant strategic transaction, Vivendi is pursuing its plan to sell additional minority interests in UMG with the assistance of several mandated banks. An IPO is planned for 2022.

The cash generated by these transactions may be used by Vivendi to reduce its financial debt and to finance a significant share buyback program and acquisitions.

SHARE BUYBACK PROGRAM

Since January 1, 2020, Vivendi repurchased 58.4 million of its own shares (i.e., 4.92% of its share capital), representing EUR1,368 million, including 23.02 million shares under the previous buyback program and 35.35 million shares under the current program.

As of October 19, 2020, Vivendi holds 62.3 million treasury shares, representing 5.25% of the share capital, of which 46.2 million shares are allocated to cancellation, 7.5 million shares allocated to covering performance share plans, and 8.6 million shares are held to back sales to employees and corporate officers (under employee shareholding plans).

LAGARDERE SCA

On October 19, 2020, Vivendi owned 28.3% of the share capital and 21.5% of the voting rights of Lagardère SCA.

In the wake of the very poor results announced by Lagardère, Vivendi and Amber Capital, despite their differences, signed a pact on August 10, 2020, that notably includes each seeking minority representation on Lagardère's Supervisory Board, three seats for Amber Capital and one seat for Vivendi. The two companies, wanting to stabilize Lagardère's shareholder base, also entered into a five-year reciprocal right of first offer and preemption rights agreement on their respective Lagardère shares.

After the Supervisory Board and the Managing Partners of Lagardère refused the respective requests of Vivendi and Amber Capital, Lagardère's first and second-largest shareholders, to call an extraordinary general meeting of Lagardère shareholders, these two companies filed a motion at the beginning of September 2020 with the Paris Commercial court seeking the convening of such meeting.

On October 14, 2020, the Paris Commercial Court denied this request. Vivendi, which remains confident in the merits of this request, will appeal against this decision.

COMMENTS ON THE REVENUES BY BUSINESS SEGMENT

Universal Music Group

For the first nine months of 2020, Universal Music Group's (UMG) revenues were EUR5,314 million, up 4.4% at constant currency and perimeter compared to the first nine months of 2019 (+5.1% on an actual basis).

For the first nine months of 2020, recorded music revenues grew by 6.2% at constant currency and perimeter thanks to the growth in subscription and streaming revenues (+15.8%) and the receipt of a digital royalty claim in the first quarter of 2020. Physical sales were down 10.2% compared to the first nine months of 2019, while download sales declined by 20.1%.

Recorded music best sellers for the first nine months of 2020 included new releases from The Weeknd, King & Prince, BTS, Justin Bieber and Lil Baby, as well as continued sales from Billie Eilish and Post Malone.

For the week of August 21 to August 27, 2020, UMG set a new record by having nine of the Top 10 albums in the United States on the Billboard 200 for only the fourth time in the chart's 64-year history. UMG has been responsible for all four of those instances. UMG also ranked No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album charts for

15 consecutive weeks, the most weeks at No. 1 for any company since UMG held the spot for 16 straight weeks in 2014. In the United Kingdom, UMG had nine of the Top 10 releases on the official album charts for the week ending September 10, 2020.

Music publishing revenues grew by 15.6% at constant currency and perimeter compared to the first nine months of 2019, driven by increased subscription and streaming revenues, as well as the receipt of a digital royalty claim in the second quarter of 2020.

Merchandising and other revenues were down 42.6% at constant currency and perimeter compared to the first nine months of 2019, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on both touring and retail activity.

In August 2020, UMG announced two key partnerships in China, a multi-year extension of its licensing agreement with Tencent Music Entertainment Group and a new multi-year licensing agreement with NetEase Cloud Music.

Canal+ Group

For the third quarter of 2020, Canal+ Group's revenues were EUR1,380 million, up 0.9% at constant currency and perimeter compared to the third quarter of 2019.

For the first nine months of 2020, Canal+ Group's revenues were EUR4,054 million, up 6.6% compared to the same period in 2019. At constant currency and perimeter, revenues decreased slightly (-0.8%). Canal+ Group's total subscriber portfolio (individual and collective) reached 20.4 million, compared to 19.0 million at the end of September 2019, including 8.6 million in mainland France.

Revenues from television operations in mainland France decreased slightly compared to the first nine months of 2019 (-1.6%), in a context marked by a downturn in the advertising market due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canal+ Group's International activities continue to grow at a strong pace. Revenues from international operations recorded sustained growth of 27.4% (+4.3% at constant currency and perimeter), thanks to the growth in the number of subscribers (+1.2 million year-on-year) across all geographical areas and the success of the M7 integration as well as the launch in Myanmar.

Studiocanal's revenues declined by 19.6% compared to the same period in 2019, as the filming and distribution of movies and series were particularly affected by the pandemic.

On September 29, 2020, Canal+ Group crossed the 5% ownership threshold in the share capital of the South-African company MultiChoice Group Ltd, the leader in pay-TV in Africa. This acquisition, a long-term financial investment, demonstrates the confidence Canal+ Group and its shareholder Vivendi have in the prospects of MultiChoice and the African continent, to which they are firmly committed.

Havas Group

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