Vivendi Net Profit Down 78 Pct In 3Q

GREG KELLER

PARIS (AP) — Vivendi SA said Thursday its net profit fell sharply in the third quarter from a year earlier, when earnings were boosted by a one-off gain on the merger of its video games business.

The Paris-based media and entertainment giant reported net profit of euro600 million (US$902 million), down from euro2.76 billion in the same period last year, when it merged its Vivendi Games video games division with Activision to create Activision Blizzard.

Vivendi is currently the focus of intense interest because a deal between U.S. media giants Comcast Corp. and NBC Universal to create one of the world's largest media companies hinges on what the French group decides to do with its 20 pecent stake in NBC Universal.

Vivendi Chief Financial Officer Philippe Capron declined to answer questions about NBC Universal in a conference call with analysts.

The company, whose media and entertainment holdings range from Universal Music Group to the Canal Plus pay television service, said that its underlying profit, which excludes most nonrecurring and non-operating items and is the measure watched most closely by financial analysts, rose 3.2 percent in the third quarter to euro645 million.