French media conglomerate Vivendi www.vivendi.com reported a 6.9% decline in adjusted net income to €649 million for Q1 2009, but reported solid results at SFR, the French mobile operator it jointly owns with Vodafone.
SFR's revenues increased by 31.5% to €3 billion compared to the same period in 2008, due mainly to the consolidation of Neuf Cegetel in April 2008. Mobile revenues totalled €2.2 billion, stable compared to the period a year earlier due to a decrease in equipment sales by €22 million to €77 million.
Mobile service revenues increased by 1.2% to €2.1 billion, which Vivendi attributed to the growth of the customer base and in data revenues, which increased 36% over to the same period last year. Mobile EBITDA decreased by €46 million year-on-year to €827 million.
SFR added 118,000 net new customers, which it claims represent a 51% market share of net additions. The net figure included 178,000 new post-paid customers and SFR says it now has a total of 13.760 million postpaid customers as of the end of March 2009.
The operator said it has already sold 120,000 iPhones since launching the device on 8 April 2009. Vivendi also added 174,000 new mobile customers (net) at its Morocco-based Maroc Telecom business, reaching 14.6 million in total, a rise of 6.8% over the year earlier period.