Headquarters Vivendi in Paris (AFP / File / Eric Piermont)
Vivendi announced Friday to accept the offer of Patrick Drahi for the sale of its 20% of Numericable, SFR approximately € 3.9 billion and reported net profit more than doubled in 2014 through a series of assignments.
The group refocused on the media and contents explained that he accepted the offer of Numericable, SFR and Altice, groups controlled by telecom tycoon, given the “low level of liquidity” title Numericable, SFR would have made “uncertain output in optimal conditions,” in a statement.
L offer of € 40 per share represents a premium of 20% compared to the price of November 27, when Vivendi has concluded the sale of SFR, says the group.
But analysts were surprised, during a conference call this sale is done at a significant discount, while the title SFR-Numericable finished Friday’s session at the Paris Stock Exchange to 55.4 euros.
“It was a good opportunity to collect the cash and avoid being in a difficult situation of liquidity,” said chief executive Arnaud de Puyfontaine again emphasizing that he also received offers from any against-one Mr. Drahi.
In total, Vivendi said that he should receive 17 billion euros for the sale of the second French mobile operator, which adds to Morocco Telecom 4.1 billion.
The group has a positive cash flow of EUR 4.6 billion end of 2014, having ended his entire debt, which amounted to 11.1 billion euros at the end of 2013.
Vivendi still plans to finalize the sale of its assets in Brazil Telecom GVT in the second quarter 2015 to 7.45 billion.
Vincent Bolloré (on screen) speaks at the General Assembly of Vivendi, June 24, 2014 in Paris (AFP / File / Eric Piermont)
These should allow him to make targeted acquisitions while maintaining “a strong financial discipline.”
The group led by Vincent Bolloré appears in 2014 profit more than doubled to 4.7 billion euros as a result of this series of divestments.
In 2015, the group aims adjusted net profit up 10% on the 626 million euros in 2014.
It also expects a “slight increase in turnover”, supported by an increase in music Streaming for its recorded music subsidiary Universal Music Group (UMG), and international activities of Canal + which has particular continue its rapid development in Africa.
The group also provides a current operating margin “close of the 2014 “
-. 11 million Canal + subscribers worldwide –
In the past year, Vivendi has seen its sales fall 1.6 % to 10.089 billion euros.
Sales of Canal + increased 2.7% year on year, with a gain of 678,000 subscriptions year now reaching 15.3 million in the world. The subscriber base and pass the 11 million mark for the first time through Africa and Vietnam.
The French businessman Patrick Drahi in Paris on 17 March 2014 (AFP / File / Eric Piermont)
The video-on-demand in France Canalplay also contributes with 599.000 subscribers late 2014.
The profitability of Canal +, however, is hampered by the increase in VAT and rising costs production in France, partly offset by international: adjusted operating profit (EBITA) gives 4.7% to 583 million euros
The profitability of UMG other hand is on the rise (10. , 7% to € 511 million) thanks to a rigorous cost management and lower restructuring charges.
But this subsidiary saw its sales fall by 6.7% because “d a more rapid change than anticipated music distribution channels. “
Clearly, the physical music sales continue to plummet, while the decline of the download is not yet offset by the growth streaming.
The company said it would return a total of € 5.7 billion to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks in 2014 to 2017.
The group will pay a dividend of 1.0 euro in 2014. “The goal is to maintain this distribution level for the financial years 2015 and 2016, representing a return to shareholders an additional € 2 billion,” said Vivendi, which also plans to buy back up to 2.7 billion euros of its own shares
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