22/12/2003

After more than a year of reorganization, the digital channel Canal +, subsidiary of Vivendi and principal financer of the French cinematographic production, it slowly regaining its economic stability in a new configuration that concentrates on France. Following the sale of Telepiù in Italy last year, the group has also concluded the sale of Canal+ Belgium whose Flemish branch went to Télénet last month, while the valley sector was assigned last week to cable operators. In the meantime, Canal+ is still negotiating with UPC (Liberty Medias) for the Dutch part of Canal+ Beneluc. With Poland as the only remaining branch, the Canal+ group has wrapped up its strategy that aims at a more national orientation, which was decided following the 2002 ousting of Vivendi head Jean-Marie Messier by Jean-René Fourtou.

Sold for 17 million euros to Belgian investors, in particular the valley group “Association Câble Multimédia”, Canal+ Belgio and its 200 thousand subscribers are leaving the European galaxy of C+. This sale brought about total sales for 1.3 billion euros in a year and a half. With 3 billion euros of recapitalization brought in by the Vivendi mother-house last December 18, Canal+’s debt should not surpass 850 million euros (5.1 billion at the end of 2002), for an annual turnover of more than 5 billion euros. This is a positive sign and backed by a new increase in the number of subscribers, following a noticeable reduction during the first six months of 2003.
This is an upswing that also brings about new changes on an organizational level, with the nomination of Rodolphe Belmenr as program director last November, in place of Guillaume Verges, who was assigned to the supervision of cinema related activities.

(Translated from French)