Global communications company Vivendi Universal has reported a loss
of €12.3bn (£7.9bn) for the first half of 2002 yesterday, and
announced plans to sell off parts of the business to reduce debt
levels by about €10bn (£6.4bn).
Vivendi's net income for the same period last year was €22m (£14m.
Net income excluding goodwill amortisation and non-recurring items
was a loss of €66m (£42m, compared with an income of €295m
(£188.5m) for the same period last year.
The company's debt was about €35bn (£22.4bn), €16bn (£10.2bn) of
which related to Vivendi Environment, an environmental services
business of which Vivendi owns 41%.
The company plans to improve its liquidity by reducing debt by
€10bn (£6.4bn) in the next two years, €5bn (£3.2bn) of that within
the next five months, it said.
This will be achieved through restructuring the Canal Plus group
and the sale of non-core assets including educational publisher
Houghton Mifflin.