PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French conglomerate Vivendi SA (VIVEF.PK), Friday reported a surge in third-quarter profit, despite a marginal drop in revenues, helped by gains from discontinued operations as the company sustained its asset divestment process.
Vivendi has been selling its telecom assets in the past year in order to focus on media. Vivendi said its results for the 2014 quarter does not include GVT, SFR, Maroc Telecom and Activision Blizzard.
In September, Vivendi agreed to sell its Brazilian broadband unit Global Village Telecom or GVT to Spanish telecom operator Telefonica SA (TDE.L, TEF).
Vivendi was also reported to be planning a comeback to Italian pay-TV market and was pursuing a stake in a unit of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset SpA.
For the third quarter, Vivendi posted net earnings of €839 million or €0.62 per share, compared with €376 million or €0.28 per share last year.
Results for the recent quarter included earnings from discontinued operations of €535 million and other income of €179 million, among other items.
Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were €189 million or €0.14 per share, compared with €79 million or €0.06 per share a year ago.
Earnings before interest, tax and amortization or EBITA rose 5 percent to €310 million. On a constant perimeter and constant currency basis, this was up 6.3 percent.
Meanwhile revenues for the third quarter edged down 0.9 percent to €2.41 billion from €2.43 billion in the prior year ago.
On a constant perimeter and constant currency basis, revenues for the quarter fell 1.7 percent from a year ago.
Among segments, revenues at its pay television business, Canal+, rose 3.4 percent to €1.3 billion. Meanwhile Universal Music Group's revenues fell about 6 percent to €1.09 billion.
In Paris, Vivendi closed at €19.84, up €0.07 or 0.35%, on a volume of 2.8 million shares.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX