Loss-laden French media group, Vivendi, is to announce its Q1 headline figures this afternoon, after unveiling a full-year loss of E13.6 billion in March (see Write-Offs Push Vivendi £8.3 Billion Into The Red).
According to predictions by analysts at ABN Amro, Vivendi will today reveal Q1 revenues up 6.9% to E6.3 billion and earnings up 12.7% to around E1.0 billion.
Trouble for Messier The company will also hold its AGM meeting this afternoon in Paris at which a vote for the resignation of chief executive Jean-Marie Messier was expected to take place. Messier is largely held responsible for the group’s losses after he embarked on a series of deal-making which has turned Vivendi into the second largest media group in the world.
However, the recent political outcry over the success of right-wing Jean-Marie Le Pen in France’s presidential votes this week is likely to secure Messier’s position for the time-being. The Financial Times reports that Vivendi’s board would not like to add a ‘business crisis to a political crisis.’
The results and AGM are expected later this afternoon.
