Vivendi posts fourth-quarter loss

Vivendi makes fourth-quarter loss on falling value of NBC Universal stake

PARIS (AP) -- French media and telecommunications giant Vivendi SA said Monday it made a loss in the fourth quarter as falling stock markets forced it to write down the value of its stake in film and television powerhouse NBC Universal.

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Vivendi reported a net loss of euro1.38 billion (US$1.73 billion) in the fourth quarter after writing down its 20-percent stake in the joint venture with General Electric Co. by euro1.5 billion.

Vivendi's fourth-quarter loss compares with a profit of euro521 million a year earlier and left its annual profit nearly flat at euro2.60 billion.

The company's underlying profit, which excludes most non-recurring and non-operating items and is the measure watched most closely by financial analysts, fell 3.4 percent to euro2.74 billion.

Vivendi operates the world's largest music company, Universal Music Group, as well as France's leading pay television channel Canal+. It also owns France's second-largest mobile phone network, SFR, and it also controls Activision Blizzard, one of the world's largest videogame publishers.

Analyst Annemarie Schulter from Hamburger Sparkasse said Vivendi's fourth-quarter loss is "quite serious" even though the negative results "were as expected on the whole." She said the media sector, including video games, has not been as sensitive to the economic crisis as telecommunications.

Vivendi shares were down 1.24 percent to euro18.73 in midday trading Monday in an overall lower Paris market.

In a statement, Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy said Vivendi had "reached the goals that we set in the beginning of 2008." Levy added that despite current market conditions, Vivendi's earnings before interest, tax and amortization "will show strong growth in 2009."

Telecommunications operator SFR, Vivendi's biggest moneyspinner, reported nearly flat EBITA last year on a 28.1 percent rise in sales to euro11.6 billion. Sales were boosted by SFR's acquisition of fixed-line operator Neuf Cegetel last April.

Universal Music Group, Vivendi's second-largest division by sales, reported almost 10 percent higher EBITA on a 4.5-percent slide in sales to euro4.65 billion. Vivendi said the division benefited from much higher digital sales, with "strong online growth in all large countries" as well as higher mobile sales outside North America.

Film and TV production house Canal+ posted the fastest earnings growth among Vivendi's varied divisions, reporting EBITA 42 percent higher at euro568 million. Vivendi said the results were mainly driven by its French pay-TV operations.

Overall, Vivendi's sales last year rose 17.2 percent to euro25.4 billion, while EBITA rose 4.9 percent to euro4.95 billion.

Associated Press writer Dheepthi Namasivayam in Paris contributed to this report.