Revenue for the third quarter: +10% organic growth

Revenue for the third quarter 2018^[1]

At constant scope and exchange rates, the Group's revenue for the third quarter 2018 increased by 10% to €5,627 million. This development mainly includes:
.

• the 11% growth in the transportation and logistics business, which benefit from the increase in freight forwarding volumes and the good performance of the port terminals;
• the 30% increase in the oil logistics business, mainly due to the increase in the price of oil products.

         
It also includes the increase in communication businesses (+6%), which benefit in particular from the growth in music and a slight increase in electricity storage and solutions (+0.2%).

Revenue as reported increased by 9% compared to revenue for the third quarter 2017.

Revenue at the end of September 2018^[2]

At constant scope and exchange rates, revenue at the end of September 2018 increased by 8% to €16,496 million.

Revenue as reported increased by 35%, taking into account €3,558 million in changes in scope, mainly related to the integration of Vivendi^[3], and -€458 million in foreign exchange impacts, related to the increase in the value of the euro against almost all currencies, particularly the US dollar.

        * 2017 data, restated for IFRS 15

At constant scope and exchange rates, compared to the first nine months of 2017, the main sectors changed as follows:

• Transportation & logistics, oil logistics:
   
  • the revenue for the transportation and logistics business increased by 11% thanks to the growth in revenue in freight forwarding and logistics, which benefit from the general increase in air and maritime volumes handled and the increase in freight rates. It also includes the strong growth in the activities of almost all port terminals, notably with significant increases in volume by TICT in Nigeria, Conakry Terminal in Guinea, Abidjan Terminal in Ivory Coast, Congo Terminal and Benin Terminal, as well as a marked increase in logistics and materials-handling business. Lastly, the rail business increased significantly thanks to the growth in goods traffic;
     
  • revenue from oil logistics (+23%) benefited from the continuing rise in the price of oil products and a slight increase in volumes;

• communication (Vivendi, media, telecoms): revenue from the communications businesses increased by 4%. Organic growth during the first nine months of the 2018 fiscal year reported by the Vivendi Group stood at
  5%, benefiting from the growth of Universal Music Group (UMG) (+9%), thanks to the 36% increase in revenue related to subscriptions and streaming, and the continuing recovery of the Canal+ Group (+1%). Havas, now fully consolidated into Vivendi, saw a resumption of growth in the third quarter of 2018. Over the first nine months, revenue (net revenues) ^[4] dropped by 1.8%. The increase in revenue from the other communication businesses is attributable to the strong growth in telecoms activities (Wifirst), where the number of rooms and campsite locations to which the service is provided continues to grow at a sustained pace;

• electricity storage and solutions: revenue from industrial businesses (electricity storage, plastic films, terminals and specialized systems) increased by 8% compared to the first nine months of the 2017 fiscal year, thanks to the strong growth in the specialized terminals division (terminals and double-door chambers for stations and airports) and the slight increase in the plastic films business. It also benefits from the growth of Bluebus, with the sale of 30 buses, including 13 buses of 12 meters over the first 9 months.  By the end of 2018, 13 buses of 12 meters should be delivered, as well as 4 buses of 6 meters, bringing the annual total to 25 vehicles of 6 meters and 25 of 12 meters. Lastly, over the first 9 months, Bluebus received an order for 41 buses of 12 meters for the RATP, for which delivery is planned in 2019.

Significant and recent events:

• Transportation and logistics
   
  • Worldwide partnership between the Bolloré and Alibaba groups for the development of common projects and exploration of new commercial opportunities: on July 2, 2018, the Bolloré and Alibaba Groups signed a memorandum of understanding concerning several areas of their respective divisions and subsidiaries, including Alibaba Cloud, Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, Bolloré Logistics and Blue Solutions. As part of this agreement, the two groups will cooperate and share their expertise and knowledge of the markets to explore new commercial opportunities, notably in China, Europe and Africa.
     
• Communication (Vivendi, media, telecoms)
   
  • Greater presence in the capital of Vivendi: the Bolloré Group continued its purchases of securities and, at the end of October 2018, held 26.3% of the capital of Vivendi^[5] and still around 29 % of voting rights.
     
  • Opening of universal music group's share capital: Following the preliminary work carried out by the Management Board, about fifteen banks were chosen for the bank selection process. The banks could help Vivendi identify one or more strategic partners for its subsidiary Universal Music Group.

Vivendi will hold working sessions with these banks before the end of fall to determine their qualifications and discuss the potential terms of engagement and fees.

The end goal of these working sessions is to select and retain five to seven banks that will be charged with finding the best partners for UMG.

The cash from this sale could be used for a significant share repurchase program in the form of a tender offer and for potential acquisitions.

·         Editis: On November 15, 2018, Vivendi entered into a share purchase agreement with Grupo Planeta for 100% of the share capital of Editis, the second largest French publishing group, following the exclusive negotiations that began on July 30. The enterprise value retained is €900 million.
Editis encompasses around fifty publishing houses (e.g., Nathan, Bordas, Robert Laffont, Presses de la Cité, Julliard, XO, Plon, Perrin, Pocket, Belfond or Le Cherche Midi) and many successful authors (e.g., Marc Levy, Michel Bussi or Raphaëlle Giordano).

• Electricity storage and solutions
   
  • On July 10, 2018, the Bolloré and Daimler groups concluded an agreement which could lead to equipping the E-Citaro buses produced by Daimler with Lithium Metal Polymer (LMP®) batteries from Blue Solutions, a subsidiary of Bolloré.

(1) At constant scope and exchange rates
* restated for IFRS 15

All amounts are expressed in millions of euros and rounded to the nearest decimal.
As a result, the sum of the rounded amounts may differ slightly from the reported total.