World of Warcraft boosts Vivendi profits

Vivendi Universal has announced a 12.1 per cent increase in profits for the second quarter of 2006, thanks in part to the continued success of Blizzardâs World of Warcraft.

Company revenues have risen by 4.824 billion Euro, an increase on 4.585 billion Euro the previous year.

Pre-tax profits reached 1.298 billion Euro, up from 1.158 billion Euro in 2005, with the company citing Blizzardâs MMORPG and its Canal+ pay TV as particularly strong performers.

Earnings for VU Games have grown 29.6 per cent, from 125 million Euro in 2005 to 162 million Euro for the three months ended June 30th. Pre-tax profits for VU Games have grown 5 million Euros from the previous period, to reach 39 million Euros.

Chairman of Vivendiâs management board, Jean-Bernard Levy, commented: âIn the first half of 2006, Vivendi once again achieved substantial improvement in operating performance, thereby demonstrating that it has been pursuing the right strategy. This was true of all our businesses, in terms of both revenue and earnings.â

Vivendiâs overall net income for Q2 2006 reached 1.16 billion Euro, compared to 756 million Euro the previous year.