Universal keeps Vivendi sales on track in first quarter

By Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS (Reuters) - Vivendi's first quarter revenue rose on a strong performance at music label Universal, home to Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga, but the French media giant warned on Monday that smaller businesses would be hit by the coronavirus crisis.

The Paris-based group, controlled by billionaire Vincent Bollore, said first quarter sales grew by 4.4% from a year earlier, to 3.87 billion euros ($4.2 billion) as revenue at the world's biggest music label, which has been Vivendi's <VIV.PA> main driver of growth in recent years, jumped 13%.

By contrast, Vivendi's second-biggest division, pay-TV Canal Plus, which has shed jobs and cut costs in France in the face of competition from original content producers such as Netflix <NFLX.O> and new sport rights distributors, saw its sales grow by 1%.

Smaller advertising unit Havas saw its sales fall by 3.3% in the first quarter on an underlying basis, Vivendi said, adding that all the sales changes were at constant currency rates.

The division, along with publishing unit Editis and Vivendi Village, which organises live performance events, will likely be affected in the second quarter, without elaborating.

Vivendi made no mention of its dividend policy, but shareholders will vote later on a resolution for a payment of 0.60 euro per share for the 2019 fiscal year, representing a 20% increase from a year earlier.

The vote will take place amid heightened political pressure on the dividend policies of large listed companies, with calls from the French government to limit or cancel payouts, especially firms that benefit from state-supported schemes.

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Alexander Smith)