Vivendi SE (VIV) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, I would like to welcome all of you to the 2021 Combined General Shareholders' Meeting of Vivendi Group. As you can well imagine, we would have much preferred that we'd be able to meet together physically today as we'd hoped to do when we decided to postpone this shareholders' meeting to the end of June. Unfortunately, the health situation made that complicated and conceivably risky to organize that type of event with people physically present. Therefore, once again, we have had to hold this AGM behind closed doors with a live webcast on our website and also a live webcast through Dailymotion. As you can imagine, we really can't wait to meet with you again in the very near future. We especially like our meetings, our discussions with you, dear shareholders. Some of you have been onboard with us for many years now, and I know you know who you are. Now I'm going to move on to the formalities. I'd remind you, our AGM was convened for this day by an invitation published in the BALO for June 2021 and in the legal gazette called [indiscernible] on the same date. Also a letter was sent to all bearer shareholders. As I said to you, this AGM is being live-cast from Vivendi headquarters in compliance with the ordinance dated 25 March 2020, which has to do with amending rules for convening general meetings as amended and extended by the ordinance dated 2 December 2020 as well as the decree from 9 March 2021. On the desk at this AGM to my right, there's a red folder, which contains the documents, which have been made available to shareholders in compliance with legislation. I'd remind you, your combined shareholders' meeting we'll be going through the following agenda. First of all, approval of reports and financial statements from fiscal 2020 and setting the dividend. Next, approval of the report by the statutory auditors on regulated party agreements. Next, the project for an exceptional distribution in kind of 60% of UMG Group NV their capital to Vivendi SE shareholders, approval of compensation for 2020 for corporate officers and compensation policy for 2021. Two renewals of terms in office, Ms. Véronique Driot-Argentin and Sandrine Le Bihan, members of the Supervisory Board. Also authorization given to the Management Board, with an eye for the company to buy back its own shares and also, if need be, to cancel the authorization to the Management Board to express a public offer for bid. Next, delegation authority to the Management Board to increase share capital without preferential subscription rights for shareholders, authorization to the Management Board to grant shares to employees and corporate officers of the group, delegations of authority to increase share capital for employees within the framework of the group, savings plan for employees as well as the international savings plan. After taking into account the votes and the proxies sent in until 3 p.m. yesterday, it's very -- I have the pleasure to announce to you we have a quorum of 68.99%. Thank you for participating. This means the AGM is duly established. I'd also like to add that about 5,700 shareholders used the Internet voting platform called VOTEACCESS, which we made available to them this year again. The Management Board at its meeting of 19 April 2021 at 3 p.m. appointed to serve as tellers the company named [indiscernible] represented by [ Ms. Linda Hajaj ] as well as the Vivendi [indiscernible] Group mutual fund, represented by Madam [ Florence de Leonne ]. As every year, I suggest that we appoint to act as Secretary, Mr. Frédéric Crépin, who you know well. He is our group's General Counsel. [indiscernible], officer of the court, has checked the votes and the proxies that were sent in until the day before the AGM yesterday 3 p.m. In a few moments' time, I will be updating you on Vivendi's strategic project. And then we'll have discussions with Arnaud de Puyfontaine, our Chairman of the Management Board. Good morning, Arnaud. You will give us the highlights of 2020 and talk to us about the group's outlook. After that, I'll be giving the floor to Caroline Le Masne, Hello, Caroline, Head of Legal Affairs, CSR and Compliance for the group. She'll be speaking about our commitments in this area. Hervé Philippe, Member of the Management Board and CFO, will talk to you about the main figures. Gilles Alix, who many of you also know, will submit to you the project of the exceptional distribution of UMG shares. He is also with the Management Board. Then various group managers will speak to talk about our main business lines. I'd also like to point out that to comply with health regulations, we had to prerecord their talks. Catherine Lawson-Hall, Chairperson of the Audit Committee and Supervisory Board, will be updating us on her committee's work. Philippe Benacin, Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Chairman of the Governance, Appointments and Compensation Committee, will then report to you on our compensation policy. Jacques Pierres, on behalf of the group of statutory auditors, will summarize the various reports by the auditors. I'd also like to use this opportunity to thank members of the Supervisory Board and the Management Board as well as all group employees who are also watching this live-cast of our AGM. Dear shareholders, first of all, I would like to talk to you about the highly unusual period that we're going through right now. First of all, on behalf of the Supervisory Board and the group in its entirety, I would like to express my sincerest thoughts for those amongst you who have been directly and personally hurt by this epidemic. All of us have been profoundly struck by this crisis. It's caused upheaval in our personal lives, our professional lives and it's continuing to change our lives. You know this since the beginning of the pandemic, we truly did everything we could to ensure safety, health and well-being with all of our employees all the while guaranteeing continuity of business activities. I'd like to express a special thanks and pay a special tribute to our 44,000 employees worldwide, who have shown unwavering commitment. They redoubled efforts and they were highly inventive in spite of the difficulties they were encountering. Our group, as you will see, has demonstrated extremely high operational resilience and an ability to reinvent itself, which has been quite amazing. In this context of uncertainties and crisis management, we are staying our strategic course. We're continuing to tirelessly invest in the future of this group with 3 main focal points. Firstly, continuing our business project. Next, contributing to the development and extension of the influence of culture and creation in the future. And thirdly, we commit to act to rise to the major environmental and social challenges that our world is having to contend with. The future of our business project. Let me report to you on this first. During this unparalleled time period -- crisis that we're weathering, the strength of our business model is showing. Just our greatest potential is Vivendi is one of the only global groups that's at the crossroads of several industries, businesses, culture, creation, combining it to the creation, production as well as distribution. All of our business lines are continuing to appeal to their audiences: moviegoers, music lovers, people who love sports, readers, parents, teachers. We've been able to reinvent ourselves, innovate, develop new formats to move forward with innovative content and digital events of -- hybrid events. There are many examples we'll be showing to you for that matter during this AGM. We're also continuing to step up our completion of our ambitious project defined by the Supervisory Board and the Management Board since 2014. So for 7 years now, we're talking about building a major integrated industrial group with an international footprint in the area of media, content and communication. The beginning project, the IPO and the project of distribution of UMG; the acquisition of Prisma Media; the stake taken in several leaders in media such as MultiChoice, PRISA and Lagardère, all of these major deals clearly demonstrate that we've never stopped crafting Vivendi's future. Arnaud will talk to you more specifically about this in a few moments. If I might, I'd like to -- on behalf of all of us, welcome and say hello to the Prisma Media employees who came on board on 1 June. We're very pleased to welcome all of you into the group. The strength of Vivendi is its ability to grow all of its business lines together, supporting them during their changes, enabling them to compare notes, share best practices and develop common projects that are often first time ever projects. The second very important consideration for us at Vivendi is to ensure that we contribute to the development and influence of culture and creation in the future. In recent months, we've remembered once again just how important it is for us individually and as a group how we all need culture and entertainment. The world of culture, particularly performing arts, was especially affected by the various restrictions. Cultural content, nevertheless, has been a source of escape and openness to the outside world become more important than ever before for many billions of people who had to be in social distancing, lockdown throughout the world. Global demand for quality-created content via digital has never been as great as it is today. At Vivendi, every day, we are building the future of our business area to be in step with the expectations of all of our audiences. We've got a daily obsession: release creation, reveal all talents, making best use of all ideas, all cultures and sharing these with the largest number of people. This is the whole meaning behind our purpose -- which is creation unlimited. So for instance, this means at Canal+, supporting the cinema and endeavoring to ensure preservation and transmission of movie heritage in France and throughout Europe. For UMG, this means helping bring to the fore talent in all country groups and then make that talent known worldwide, helping different types of cultural influence. At Editis, this means getting large number of people a desire to read from the very early stage and also fostering access to books and educational materials. For Havas, this means developing an inventive communication campaigns and meaningful campaigns. For Prisma Media, it means making the life of the French more beautiful by better informing them, possibly making them more inspired. For Gameloft, it means giving absolute priority to the quality of their productions and they're in charge of the entire creative process. At Vivendi Village, it means designing new formats for shows and performances and all the while preserve the cultural specifics of each region and each festival. At Vivendi, we're making every endeavor to foster a multi-facet integration, which is inclusive and original. We're proud to be a global group, guardian of the vitality of local culture and a player in the area of preservation of global cultural heritage. Lastly, and this is very important. I'd like to talk to you today about our commitment to the major challenges that our society is having to grapple with. I am very much convinced that our group has a major role to play to improve this world that we're all living in via our societal and environmental commitments and also through our ability to influence through our content. Dear shareholders, you know this, our societal responsibility didn't start yesterday at Vivendi. We committed very early on starting in, I believe, 2003, to define challenges for CSR that pertains specifically to our business lines. Since 2008, this is been via our solidarity program called Create Joy. We've been supporting association projects for youngsters between 11 to 25 years of age who are encountering difficulty. This year, we're going even further boosting our commitment our new program called Creation for the Future. Caroline Le Masne, our CSR Head, will specify the road map in just a moment. I couldn't even go in to mention all of these initiatives taken by our entities group-wide to support the virtual society, sustainable inclusive, but I would like to draw your attention to 3 major points. Firstly, to fight climate change, that challenge. Since our shareholders' meeting last year, we set a clear objective to reach carbon neutrality group-wide by 2025, 4 years down the road. In the near future, we will be disclosing our reduction road map and compensation for greenhouse gas emissions. Also, we're continuing to raise public's awareness of the climate urgency, continuity of our ecosystem and doing eco-responsible initiatives. Second, very important challenge diversity and inclusion because everybody differences are sources of creativity. So at Vivendi, we talk about skills and individual pathways. That's at the core of our collective performance. We fight any type of discrimination, promote diversity. This is a major focus in our CSA programs implemented by the group in all of our business lines. Inter alia, we touch great importance to gender equality on the job. Our objective is to boost further actions to give more space for women in the group, greater gender equality amongst managers and we'll also be furthering by training the reduction of stereotypes. Lastly, at Vivendi, we realize full well the societal responsibility that weighs on our shoulders due to the content we produce and broadcast. This is what we're highly committed to protecting our audiences, especially the youngest people in audiences by promoting responsible content. I'm thinking, for instance, of Gameloft. We have restrictions to protect children from certain content and certain functions, enabling users to alert -- sound alerts if there's any hateful speech or discrimination. I'm also thinking of Havas being a pioneer in meaningful communication. Havas was also the first communication group to become part of the network called Conscious Advertising Network to fight negative content and disinformation. There are other initiatives group-wide, of course, as well, many such. This ambitious policy is truly a way of boosting value creation. It's within our group's strategy. So in a nutshell, dear shareholders, this is the ambition that guides us at Vivendi. Clearly, it's thanks to your support that we're able to always take the long-term view and be resolutely looking ahead. I'm pleased now to give the floor to the Chairman of our Management Board, Arnaud de Puyfontaine, to talk to us about the highlights and the outlook for Vivendi. Again, Arnaud.

Good morning, Yannick. I'd like to greet all our shareholders who are following our shareholders' meeting this morning.

Arnaud, what would you say are the highlights for 2020? And could you give us initial trends for 2021?

Well, I would say that these past 15 months were, more than ever, months of adaptation and transformation. Adaptation, first of all, to confront an unprecedented crisis, totally unpredictable. Thanks to the exemplary commitment of all our employees, we were able to adapt in record time and very efficiently. Crisis management was able to ensure, at the same time, protection of our employees, business continuity, transformation of modes of work and management with remote teams, and of course, anticipating the exit from the crisis. Innovate in particular, in the case of our activities halted by the health crisis was a priority and we'll show you a few examples of that. Our group was thus able to deliver a very good year 2020. Our revenue grew 1.2% and EBITA grew by 6.6% versus 2019. But in the context that we've just gone through, it's a remarkable performance. Hervé Philippe, our CFO, and all the managers of our units will give you greater detail in a moment. What I'd like to underscore is to what extent this crisis has demonstrated the strength of our model, resting on coherent but diversified activities, their strong digitization and the important weight of subscription as well as the soundness of our strategic decisions. 2020 was also a milestone in our resolve to build a world-class corporation in media content and advertising. If 2020 was a year of adaptation, it was also a year of accelerating the transformation and that in the wake of the project that we've been implementing since 2014. Allow me to give you a few examples, both in terms of our business transformation as well as that of our group. Let's take Canal+ to begin with. Last year, the extraordinary change of the Canal (sic) [ Canal+ ] Group accelerated still further, leading to an increase in subscriber numbers of 1.5 million during the year. In a few years, Canal+ has gone from a conventional TV player to a leading content aggregator with over 22 million subscribers across 40 countries and continuing its digital transformation with myCanal, the platform. myCanal went from 360 million cumulated views in 2015 to 1.7 billion in 2020. The health crisis, of course, promoted view records. For example, the Validé series on rap was viewed over 35 million times in France. But there are real behavioral sea changes that Canal (sic) [ Canal+] is contributing to. Second example, Editis. Against a difficult backdrop linked to the closure of bookstores for over 3 months, Editis managed to combine economic performance with recurring operating income up over 2019, organizational changes to be more agile and closer with writers, cooperating with other Vivendi units, contributing to more reading and the emergence of new readers. And that's not going to stop anytime soon. Rest assured that Editis will play a key role in the transformation of the book industry, all the more so during this year where reading has been declared a major national cause by the French President. Third example, Universal Music. I won't go back on the outstanding performance of this musical industry leader, thanks to the transformation effort led by Sir Lucian Grainge, his teams and those of Vivendi that were able to create value in a sector many of whom were saying was set to disappear, value reflected very concretely today. Two major projects demonstrate this continued opening of Universal's capital with disposal of an additional 10% to an international consortium led by Tencent on the basis of EUR 30 billion valuation. As you know, we've just signed an agreement with Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd., PSTH, led by its CEO, Bill Ackman, to dispose of 10% of UMG's capital on an enterprise value of EUR 35 billion. The pulling power of Universal with strategic investors is undeniable. Second major project is, of course, the distribution to -- plan to distribute 60% of UMG's capital followed by its listing. [ Sheila Leeks ] will tell you more about that in a moment. During our extraordinary AGM on the 29th of March, you approved by 99.98% the change in the company's Articles of Association. First step in approving this plan, its massive support, and we thank you for that. Today, you're going to be asked to vote on this plan. There are 3 goals: respond to the long-standing demand from some of our institutional investors to see the Vivendi stock freed from its -- part of its holding discount. Secondly, reflect the value of UMG. Thirdly, to allow you, shareholders, to choose for yourselves if you wish to wait further value creation from Universal or draw the benefits of this growth that has been achieved these past few years. Final example of transformation is the entry of our group in a new business, which fits fully with our other businesses. On the 1st of June, we welcome Prisma Media, French leader in magazines, print and digital, with a readership of 40 million French with titles such as Capital, Femme Actuelle and Télé-Loisirs. Take a look at the video. [Presentation]

Once again, I'd like to welcome all the employees from Prisma Media. I know that many of you are watching us today. We're very pleased to begin this shared adventure. I'm very confident in the numerous growth opportunities for Prisma as well as the cooperation opportunities with other units in the group.

Thank you, again, Arnaud, and again, welcome to Prisma employees. Congratulations to all Vivendi teams for this tremendous ongoing transformation, basically. Could you also recall for us the reasons for strategic investments Vivendi has made in several different companies and most recent developments?

Thank you, Yannick. Yes. Indeed, we've taken investment stakes in several companies, 12% MultiChoice South African company, leader in pay-TV in Africa, very good fit with our business; 9.9% PRISA, leader in media and education in the Spanish-speaking world owning the Spanish daily El Pais, 29.2%; Lagardère, major group based in Paris with strong positions internationally. The Lagardère AGM is set to be held in 8 days if the transformation plan to transform it into a joint stock company, Vivendi will be represented by 3 Board members. These investments reflect both our confidence in the value-creation potential of these companies and in the mutual interest of business cooperations when possible. Likewise, for our Italian holdings, we announced early May an agreement with Mediaset and Fininvest, putting an end to our disputes, waiving all complaints and disputes against us. As to Telecom Italia, we're the leading shareholders and we're mobilized to ensure the full success and have mutually beneficial cooperation for both groups.

We've seen many developments in recent months. What do you think about the future for the group?

Well, it's perhaps a little too soon to determine the long-term impact of the current crisis. But Vivendi has demonstrated its ability to stay the course: industrial strategy, media content and advertising. Our group has strong assets, and we can view the future with confidence and ambition. Firstly and foremostly, the quality of our creative output and the strength of our creators. In 2020, we invested EUR 4 billion in content, that's 17% more than in 2019. Never during the past few years have we allocated as much money to developing our content. Some were acclaimed both by the public as well as by critics. I'm thinking of the latest season of the Bureau series on Canal+; wonderful Clara Luciani, UMG female artist, the Victoires de la Musique bringing out a new album tipped to be one of the biggest successes in 2021 in France. I'm also thinking, of course, of the latest novel by [indiscernible] published by [indiscernible] received the [indiscernible]. We defend creation that is open, plural and innovative. We support the best talents from all cultures and all background. Our purpose, creation unlimited, that you were referring to in your introduction, Yannick, bears witness to that second Vivendi strength, mastering its own delivery capabilities. Our group wants to rely on its own platform from myCanal to Dailymotion to deliver its content and those of are the major players, Disney, Netflix, beIN Sports inter alia. Vivendi is also a privilege partner of major telcos and digital platforms that are world-class to offer maximum amount reach to its content. Third strength, consistent geographic presence and growth potential in highly growing markets. Europe, where we achieved half our revenue, is an area of reference from which we're building our business plan. Our investments in Italy, Telecom Italia; Spanish-speaking market, PRISA, a part of that rationale. Our roots are European but our ambitions are global. In Africa, Canal+ numbers, almost 6 million subscribers to its channel. We're also present in Asia, notably in China where Vivendi numbers many partners, starting with Tencent, for asset. The deployment of new entertainment formats, the lockdown measures and theater closures were an opportunity to rethink our experience in live entertainment. In a year, we've had live stream concerts, virtual festivals open to all throughout the world, even designed a virtual theater. There's no doubt that our know-how will be useful to meet the demands of audiences that are keen for hybrid entertainment, phygital. And lastly, but not least, the uniqueness of our integrated model. The Vivendi promise is to enhance the potential of its businesses and make them grow together. Our entities are stronger by operating together where really the conditions and the value of Vivendi as a whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Here, again, the past few months have allowed us to rally our expertise to build bridges between publishing and broadcasting, between gaming and live entertainment, music and advertising. We view the future with confidence and determination. It's above all because we can count on the support of our major shareholder, Bolloré Group, ensures long-term stability and on yours, dear shareholders. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our 200,000 individual shareholders to whom we ascribe particular attention via our Club and Shareholders' Committee. The project that has supported us since the new team took office since 2014 is one that creates value over the long term. Our revenues increased by 59% from EUR 16.1 billion in 2020 versus EUR 10.1 billion in 2014. As you can see on the chart, our share price which is an important benchmark of our group's performance has grown in excess of 90% with dividends reinvested between 2014 and 2020 as against plus 50% for the CAC 40. All in all, it's over EUR 16 billion that have been returned to you since 2014 to you, the Vivendi shareholders, Hervé Philippe will return to that in a few moments. Dear shareholders, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you from this screen, but with warmth for your trust and confidence. There cannot be a major business plan without predictability, continuity and sustainability. All these conditions are met, thanks to you. This plan is and remains an ongoing transformation plan of our assets with a view to creating shareholder value for all our shareholders, as we've shown you. Lastly, allow me to address the last word to the 40,000 Vivendi employees who every day move forward our group with energy, professionalism and commitment that is unfailing. Thank you all very much. And the best is yet to come.

Thank you so much, Arnaud. As I mentioned to you during my introduction, for almost 20 years now, our group -- your group has been highly committed to corporate social responsibility, CSR. As we announced this last year, we wanted to further strengthen our commitments in this area. We appointed Caroline Le Masne, our Head of Compliance and CSR. We also defined a new road map, highly ambitious with a fairly short time line ranging up to 2025. That is the revision of the CSR Committee from our Supervisory Board. I'd use the opportunity to really congratulate them on their excellent work by all the members chaired by Paulo Cardoso. Caroline, welcome. Please come join us. Good morning, Caroline. Could you tell our shareholders the broad lines of our CSR program and possibly also give some specific examples of actions the group has carried out?

Thank you, Yannick. Good morning to you, one and all. Yes, absolutely. End of 2020, we started a new CSR program called Creation for the Future. It's a continuation of our corporate purpose. With the new program, 3 pillars to renew and strengthen our ambitions in the area of environmental responsibility, societal and social responsibility. The first pillar of our program, Creation for the Planet, says that fighting a global warming is one of our priorities, a clear objective which was announced to have net zero carbon group-wide by 2025. Specifically, this means we'll be cutting by 30% CO2 emissions relating to our activities by 2025. That's the date when we will begin offsetting any residual emissions. We go beyond 2025, of course, continue cutting our emissions all the way down to minus 70% by 2035. To reach these targets, we've already used several things we could leverage. Firstly, we are using new buildings in our policy of sustainable buildings and environmental certification. Think of Havas village in France, congratulations. Recently, they got the ISO 14001 certification; or UMG's head office in Berlin, which just as Vivendi campus in France, now has begun reaching, is intending to reach carbon neutrality. Second pillar, Creation for Society. Here, we wish to participate in building and we're open and free to society inter alia through our content, which is influential. We have high demand from our audiences. They want there to be an educational and [ societal ] component in entertainment. We are in touch with hundreds of millions of people worldwide. So we have a role to play here. First of all, in terms of fighting stereotypes. A lot of our content really promotes diversity and living together such as non-stereotype representation of the various characters. Next, we're determined to endeavor every single day to make content more accessible to everyone regardless of age, income, location or difficulties related to any sort of disability. We've mentioned the Havas Group, which was a pioneer in audio description of advertisements in France; or Editis, which launched several book collections for children who were dyslexic and so forth. Vivendi Group has felt this is a fundamental right and we're pleased to be making a contribution to this. This is a strong part of ours for the next 5 years.

Thank you, Caroline. We could say that 2020 was very much a turning point in the area of diversity and inclusion. Could you report to us more specifically on how Vivendi intends to play its role in these very key areas.

Yes, Yannick. With creation -- with all the third pillar of our program, we wish to build a more responsible, more inclusive world where everyone has a place. This begins with our own talents. To that end, since last year, we've launched over 10 task forces, inclusion and diversity in most of our business lines throughout the world. So when necessary, we can remedy issues having to deal with gender equality and representation of all diversities. We're convinced the key, not only for a better world, but more directly for a better performance of this group is to be found therein. In 2020, over 7,000 young people and 37 associations were supported in France, the U.K. and 8 countries in Africa, thanks to our solidarity program called Vivendi Create Joy, which supports young people who would like to train in various areas of ours and in the systems. So the CSR program includes Creation for the Future. You can see Vivendi more than ever before is intending to make its contribution to a more open and responsible world. Creation is at the core of our commitment. We'll show you some examples now. [Presentation]

Thank you very much, Caroline, to you and your team throughout the world of Vivendi across businesses for this important CSR effort. Thank you to all the teams. We're proud of our Creation for the Future program that commits us with all our employees, our consumers, our partners and society as a whole. I now propose that we go back in detail of the results of our group last year. And for that, we -- I'd like to call up Hervé Philippe, our Chief Financial Officer. Hervé, welcome. Could I ask you to present the key financials for 2020?

Thank you, Arnaud. Thank you, Yannick. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, good morning to you, one and all. Yes, I'd like to report to you on the financial statements for fiscal 2020 for the group, starting with the consolidated financial statements, particularly the key figures for 2020. In 2020, during the health crisis, we were able to demonstrate our resilience and our agility booking good performance with an increase of 1.2% in our revenue, reaching over EUR 16 billion, as you can see on the first line of the chart. This is mainly thanks to the increases at UMG and Groupe Canal+. In taking to account currency effects and scope effects, revenue remains basically stable and driving -- grown by more than 5% from 2019. On the second line, EBITDA (sic) [ EBITA ], adjusted earnings before interest in income, up 6.6% versus 2019, reaching the amount of EUR 1.6 billion, I'll come back to this later. Line number three, under IFRS standards, EBIT or earnings before interest and taxes, you can see an increase of 6.3%. Line 4, result of activities, pretaxes and minority interest went up by 47.7% versus 2019, reaching EUR 2.18 billion. This is the result most comparable to the performance booked in 2019. Lastly, at the bottom of the screen, you can see earnings attributable to Vivendi SE. It's a profit of EUR 1.4 billion after taxes and minorities. Now to go through the consolidated income statement. The first lines here give us the key figures for group performance in 2020, we'll come back to these in detail in just a moment. But firstly, I'd like to mainly talk about the transition from EBIT to the net group income drawing your attention to 4 important lines. First of all, under EBIT, you can see a line called other financial income and charges. Among other things, this includes the impact of the revaluation of stakes held by UMG in Spotify and Tencent Music. In 2020, there was this revaluation reaching EUR 590 million after the growth in the share price of these companies during the year. Result of businesses before taxes and minorities growing by 47.7% versus 2019, reaching EUR 2.19 billion. Next, the line taxes on earnings. In 2019, I mentioned taxes had several beneficial nonrecurring impacts, the amount EUR 473 million after the final resolution of tax litigation in France covering fiscal periods 2012 and 2015. Excluding that positive nonrecurring element in 2019, net group income would have gone up by 29.7%. Lastly, share of minority stakes up substantially EUR 167 million. This is 10% share of the Tencent consortium of UMG's earnings since 31 March 2020. Also recall here that by virtue of IFRS standards applicable to consolidated financial statements, this 2020 result does not include capital gain of EUR 2.4 billion realized during the first divestment of 10% of UMG to that consortium. This was directly booked under reserves, but certainly, the cash was received.

2020 revenue changes versus 2019 give us a glimpse of the performance of our main activities.

Absolutely. Consolidated group revenue remained basically stable versus 2019. And considering the context of the COVID pandemic, Vivendi activity showed great resistance, especially Universal Music, with growth of 4.7%. Canal+ revenues reached almost EUR 5.5 billion, the drop was less than 1%. On the other hand, as expected, some other activities such as Havas Group and performances at Vivendi Village were impacted by the health crisis. Lastly, Editis saw the plus of a strong rebound in its activity since June 2020, generating over EUR 700 million in revenue in 2020. To talk about adjusted earnings before interest and income taxes, EBITDA (sic) [ EBITA ], which is very representative of our economic reality, we can say that it went up by 3.7%. Like-for-like. The slowdowns in businesses due to COVID were offset by 20% increase at UMG and 5% at Groupe Canal+. Now let's look at greater -- in greater detail at the performance of the main activities to begin with Universal Music Group. On the chart left-hand side, we can see ongoing growth in revenue through streaming services, either by subscription or financed through advertising, reaching -- going up by another EUR 500 million this year. These sales representing now over 50% of revenue generated by UMG driven by growth in revenue, profitability at UMG, again, improved very strongly in 2020. On the right-hand side of the screen, you can observe that adjusted operating income reaching over EUR 1.3 billion in 2020, which is organic growth of more than 20% for the fourth consecutive year. Now let's talk about Groupe Canal+. 2020, we saw very good commercial performance at Canal+. The left-hand side of the screen here, we see subscriber base at Canal+ Group continued to grow, reaching 21.8 million subscribers as of the end of 2020, gaining more than 1.2 million subscribers internationally in 2020, continuing successfully its integration of M7 in Europe. International subscribers now represent 60% of the subscriber base, 6-0. Now on the right-hand side of the screen, you can see the depiction of content Canal+ has an offer for subscribers. This board of offering at Canal+ is very complete. Broadcast rights for TOP 14, Formula 1, Motor GP and the Champions League of UEFA starting this summer. It's a rich sports offering. In addition to this, we've got the best of French cinema, international cinema, the best series. Recent agreements also make it possible to propose using the self-serve subscription all the Canal+ content plus the best apps and channels, such as Disney+, beIN Sports, Netflix and STARZPLAY. Now let's go to the next page, Havas. On the left-hand side of the screen here, we see a strong drop in net revenue by 18% in the second quarter. This was due to the health crisis. Havas quarter-after-quarter continues to see gradual resumption in its business activity. This trend is further confirmed in the first quarter of 2021. In this context, Havas generated EBITDA (sic) [ EBITA ] of EUR 121 million, as you can see on the right-hand side of the screen, versus EUR 225 million in 2019. Thanks to its agility, the benefits of the cost adjustment plan started at the very beginning of the crisis. We can see this depicted in the light pink. This all enabled Havas to absorb half of the drops in income. You can see that in the white rectangle. Now Editis. We see that Editis has a balanced portfolio of activities diversified in terms of literature, education, for instance, thanks to its brands, Nathan and Bordas. In addition, they've got logistics expertise in broadcast and distribution, Interforum. Editis has been present throughout the value chain for books. On the right-hand side, you can see the Editis activity in 2020, first of all, was hit hard by the closure of points of sales during the first lockdown. But since June of 2020, Editis saw a strong rebound in its business, which continued in the first quarter of 2021.

Thank you, Hervé, for this business overview. Could you give us an update now on the group's balance sheet?

Yes. The consolidated group balance sheet is very strong. Shareholders' equity, EUR 16.4 billion consolidated. Net debt of the group is EUR 5 billion end of 2020, representing 30% of shareholders' equity before, sorry, cash in of the 10% additional divestment of UMG to Tencent. We can see this on the following slide. Here, we can see changes in cash. During 2020, we had cash in of EUR 2.8 billion after the divestment of the first tranche, 10% of UMG. Then paid an equivalent amount to shareholders in the form of dividends, EUR 690 million, and share buybacks to the tune of EUR 2.157 billion. Investments totaled EUR 1.4 billion inter alia, including our holdings in Lagardère, MultiChoice in South Africa as well as our stake in the capital increase by Banijay last July. Cash flow from business areas, cash flow from operations, EUR 700 million in 2020. So as of end December 2020, group net debt reached EUR 5 billion. But it's important to observe that in January 2021, we finalized the divestment of the second tranche of 10% in UMG, which is cash in, however, of magnitude, EUR 2.8 billion in cash, which reduced by the same amount our net debt. After taking into account transfer of UMG debt within the framework of the distribution of 60% of UMG for an amount of EUR 1.9 billion, you can see on the right-hand side of the screen that Vivendi will have net debt near 0. Now the individual accounts, the accounts of the parent company -- accounts of Vivendi SE's financial statements. Let's look at its balance sheet, first of all, as the end of December 2020, this balance sheet is also very strong, shows equity of over EUR 20 billion. Next slide, please. We've got the results of Vivendi SE, typical of a parent company. Financial income of Vivendi SE mainly coming from dividends received from UMG and Telecom Italia amounting to just over EUR 300 million. Most of the nonrecurring result, EUR 2.4 billion, that's the capital gain of the 10% sale of UMG in March of 2020. Therefore, the net results of Vivendi SE, EUR 3 billion is the net earnings for Vivendi SE for 2020. Now as to allocation of earnings, there's been a resolution for the payout for 2020 of an ordinary dividend of EUR 0.60 per share, the same amount as for fiscal year 2019. Payment of dividend would take place starting 25 June 2021. Thus, as you can see on this chart, since 2014, more than EUR 16 billion have been paid out to shareholders as dividends and share buybacks. Thank you for your attention.

Thanks very much, Hervé. That was very clear as it always is. We're now pleased to welcome Gilles Alix, member of the Management Board, who will come and present the planned exceptional distribution that we're submitting to your vote through resolutions 5 and 6. Gilles?

Good morning. Thank you, Yannick and Arnaud. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, it falls to me to present to you the arrangements of this planned exceptional distribution in kind of some 60% of the capital of Universal Music Group. Firstly, I'd like to remind you that 20% of UMG's capital were sold to the consortium led by Tencent in March 2020 and January '21. Following those 2 transactions, Vivendi holds to this day 80% of UMG capital. Secondly, let me remind you that an agreement was reached on the 20th of June between Vivendi and Pershing Square Tontine Holding with a view to dispose of 10% of UMG's capital. The closing of the transaction is expected before and at the latest 15th of September. Vivendi prepares -- plans to lastingly preserve at least 10% of UMG's available capital. There remains a stake of about 60% of UMG's capital that is the subject of the proposed distribution. This is made possible by the approval of your extraordinary shareholders' meeting held on 29 March of this year of a change in the Articles of Association of Vivendi authorizing the distribution of proceeds in kind, including financial securities. On the slide shown, you can see that the exceptional distribution in kind that is planned is divided into 2 parts, an exceptional dividend amounting to EUR 5.3 billion charged to the remainder of the undistributed 2020 earnings and the previous carryover; and a supplement of EUR 14.5 billion, and the form of an interim exceptional dividend that would be based on the result of the Vivendi SE of the first half 2021. The sum of these 2 amounts is EUR 19.8 billion, 60% of the total value of UMG estimated at EUR 33 billion. This assessment results from financial expert reports led by PwC and EY as part of the formation on the 26th of February last of a holding company, combining the whole of UMG's activities. Let me add that in order to finalize this transaction, it's subject, of course, to your approval at today's shareholders' meeting. It will still be necessary, firstly, to obtain the green light of the Dutch regulator, AFM, for the listing of UMG shares on the Euronext Amsterdam market at a date currently planned for 21st September 2021 and obtain the decision of the Management Board to pay an interim dividend on a certified -- interim balance sheet certified by the auditors indicating at June 30 an adequate profit. The exceptional distribution will take the form of an allocation of UMG NV shares. The envisaged parity is 1 UMG NV share for 1 Vivendi SE share held. On this basis, given Vivendi's treasury stock 94.67% of Vivendi shares would give right to the allocation of 60% of UMG's capital. Such as a shareholder holding 1% of Vivendi's capital would receive 0.634% of UMG's capital. The final amount of the distribution will be established during the listing of UMG in its opening share price. If the value of distribution were to be changed versus the amount EUR 19.8 billion, this change would result in an upward or downward variation of the amount of the interim dividend. In the event, the amount of the distribution in kind cannot exceed the sum of reserves and previously distributable results in the 30th June result. In the event of an excess, the number of UMGs distributed will be reduced and the distribution parity could fall below 1 UMG share for 1 UMG share.

Thank you. Could you give us the steps for the time line?

Yes, of course, it's proposed the 22nd of June '21 to approve resolutions 5 and 6, that is the exceptional distribution. And as already mentioned, the next stage will be the closing of Vivendi's corporate accounts. For the first half 2021, 26th of July, the balance sheet June 30 will have to show an adequate profit to allow for the distribution of the exceptional interim dividend. We expect to receive on 14th September, the authorization of the Dutch regulator, AFM, on the prospectus on the UMG listing. And the IPO of UMG shares could take place on 21st September 2021 with the detachment of distribution. Lastly, 23rd of September, Vivendi holders will receive the UMG shares allocated. For more information, I would refer you to the report on the exceptional dividend to be found on Page 25 of the convening notice. The final timetable of distribution will, of course, be disclosed when it is definitively finalized. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you very much, Gilles. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the teams at Vivendi, UMG, all our partners who are assisting us in this transaction. And a big thank you to Tencent, our partner. We're now going to hear from the various representatives of the group businesses. Let's start with someone you know very well, the CEO of Canal+ and also Chairman of Dailymotion, who'll share with us the major achievements developed by his teams, Maxime Saada.

[Foreign Language]

Thank you very much, Maxime. Over now to Olivier Nusse, Chair of the Management Board of you Universal Music France.

[Foreign Language]

Thank you, Olivier, and bravo to all the Universal teams, led by Sir Lucian Grainge for, once again, an outstanding year. Let's now turn to Havas to talk to you about it like last year, the group CFO, Francois Laroze.

[Foreign Language] [Presentation]

Thank you, Francois. Well done for Havas, well done for its ad campaigns, long live the Canal+ codes and long live [ Geute ]. Very pleased together with Yannick to welcome Michèle Benbunan, CEO of Editis, who'll now present the developments and ambition of our publishing house.

[Foreign Language]

Thank you, Michèle. It is good indeed to count on, and thanks for saying that the support of Vivendi really to spread books. Another sector to which consumers turn to these past few months, video games. Stéphane Roussel, who's a member of our Management Board, CEO of Gameloft.

[Foreign Language]

Thanks, Stéphane, and my thanks to all the Gameloft teams. Now other teams also can be warmly thanked, those of Vivendi Village, whose activities were particularly hard hit by the lockdown measures. Simon Gillham, its CEO, will return on this unprecedented year.

[Foreign Language]

Thanks, Simon. We all have loved to have been with you at the Olympia. See you there next year. After this business review, let's now move to the report of the works of the Supervisory Board committees. And like with previous years, for the Audit Committee, we're pleased to welcome the Chair, Cathia Lawson-Hall. Hello, Cathia.

Hello, Yannick, and hello, Arnaud. It's always a genuine pleasure to meet with you here for Vivendi shareholders meeting. As you know, the Audit Committee guarantees financial control, both internal and external. And the reliability of information provided to shareholders in this capacity continues year after year to track accounts and financial information. It also has a role, which is to oversee the coherence and effectiveness of internal control. As a member of the Supervisory Board, Chair of the Audit Committee and member of the CSR Committee, I'm always proud to see both the dynamism of the group, its plans, its strong resilience against the backdrop of the current crisis and the very high and exacting standards that it sets in operational execution for all its businesses. In 2020, the Audit Committee met 3 times in the presence of the statutory auditors and worked, of course, on business continuity during the pandemic and on the lessons learned from COVID crisis, as I said to you last year, but also, particularly the controls of detailedness and integrity of the revenue change called revenue assurance, some strong standards applied in operational implementation. Whatever market conditions or defining projects underway is a strong commitment by Vivendi and its teams daily. Revenue assurance is an initiative aimed at constantly assuring that the products and services used by our customers are all well-invoiced and at the right price. This approach is aimed at detecting and immediately remedying any technical or operational problem that might generate a loss of revenue, loss of earnings or hinder our customers. In this framework, reviews were conducted across our businesses to ensure, in particular, good control of offers and promotions in the sales management systems, good control of the technical chain for digital products to ensure the timely delivery of services with the offers subscribed, good management and preciseness of invoicing. These reviews allow the adjustment of proactive organization and constantly improve in-place controls in order to guarantee optimum adjustment of procedures in force to changes of our activities. 2021, the Audit Committee will track with interest changes in group scope and will focus its attention on the integration of Prisma Media, which I have no doubt as successful as that of Editis in 2019. Thank you for your attention.

Thanks very much, Cathia, and my thanks to all members of the Audit Committee. Arnaud, if you agree, let's continue with the report of the Governance Compensation and Nominations Committee. We are pleased to welcome Philippe Benacin, its Chair. Hello, Philippe. If you'd like to join us.

I'm going to talk to you about the work of the Governance Committee, of course, the transparency of information component in corporate governance was strengthened, notably, the reaching of the nonfinancial bonus criteria and the extended scope of French employees. That's Resolution 7. Compensation of the Chairman of the Supervisory Board 2020 stood at EUR 400,000, including the sum of EUR 60,000, formerly directors' fees. This compensation remains unchanged versus 2019. Like every year, the payment of the 2020 bonus of Chair and Management Board members is subject to your approval. Resolutions 9 to 15, 80% of the fixed portion. Compensation policy plans for a bonus between 80% and 100% of the fixed portion. As regards performance shares granted in 2018 to the Chairman and Management Board members, the final vesting rate comes in at 75% of the initial allocation. As you can see, the Chairman's compensation policy and that of the Board members remained change in 2021. For the Management Board, this year, we have a new target linked to reducing the carbon footprint for performance share allocations. As regards the business, the discretionary power of the Board was framed. The Board can henceforth take account of one-offs not reflected in the levels reached by performance criteria. In no case can the ceiling be exceeded. No payment can take place before your ex-post approval upon justification of the Board. The fixed portion of the Chairman's compensation was rebalanced for 2021, with a total package close to the medium of the comparative benchmark. Gilles Alix stopped working within Bolloré in 2020. For '21, he receives compensation, 100% Vivendi. Fixed portion, down 16.5% versus the fixed portion. 2020, Vivendi Bolloré exceptionally, performance share grant is replaced by an amount in cash. It will take account of the individual contribution of the Chairman and each member of the Management Board in rolling out and implementing the listing and distribution plan. For UMG Live, for their 2021 bonus, no payment can take place before it's reported to you in 2022. It's proposed to renew the term of office of Mme. Véronique Driot-Argentin. This renewal allow the Board to continue to benefit of her knowledge of the group since 1989 as well as her expertise in terms of employee relations and human resources. Véronique's also a member of the green team in charge of environmental certification of Vivendi HQ for over 10 years now. You're also asked to renew the term of Mme. Sandrine Le Bihan as member representing employees. Her renewal will maintain the link since 2013 between employees and management bodies of your company. Sandrine Le Bihan also represents salaried employees of the group as Chair of the Supervisory Board of the employee group savings plan. Subject to your approval, the Vivendi Board will be comprised of 55% women, 55% independents. I've said it all. Thank you. Back to Yannick.

Thank you very much, Philippe. My thanks to all members of the Governance Compensation and Nominations Committee. Mr. Jacques Pierres has for me -- well, I will now play it on behalf of the statutory auditors a summary of their report with a video.

[Foreign Language]

Thank you, statutory auditor and whole -- thank you, group of statutory auditors. With that, now, it's our pleasure to welcome the Secretary of this meeting as well as our General Counsel to take the floor, Frédéric Crépin. I'd like to thank all of the shareholders who sent in questions in writing.

Thank you, Yannick. And I know, yes, we received this year a set of 14 written questions from our shareholders. From the -- from Association for Responsible Investment and from the association, Initiative for Citizen Shareholdership. The questions have to do with environmental consideration, social and governance points as well as Canal+ Group. The Management Board also gave answers to the 29 questions asked by the company, Bluebell Capital Partners. These questions had to do with internal restructuring operations that led to the constitution of UMG BV, the sale to Pershing Square Tontine of 10% of UMG and also renewal of the OPRA. Lots of questions. These answers have already been given during the presentations during this shareholders' meeting. You can also find posted on our website under AGM all of these written questions as well as the detailed answers provided by the Management Board in compliance with regulations and legislation.

Thank you, Frédéric. And thank you to the Management Board for the set of questions and answers that have been posted on our website. Our AGM is now coming toward its end. This brings us to the time we've all been waiting for. This is the result of the votes on resolutions that you've cast. Let's go for -- back to Frédéric.

Thank you. This year, we have 30 resolutions for approval by the shareholders submitted by our Management Board and Supervisory Board. Let's now go through those resolutions, the vote and the results. Resolution 1, approval of the parent company financial statements for fiscal year 2020, adopted, 99.90%. Resolution #2, approval of the reports and financial statements for fiscal 2020, carried, 99.90%. Resolution 3, approval of the special report by statutory auditors on related-party agreements, adopted, 99.61%. Resolution 4 is the allocation of earnings for 2020, setting of dividend and its payment date, passed by 99.82%. Resolution 5, consultative opinion on the proposed special distribution in kind of a majority of the share capital of Universal Music Group N.V. to Vivendi SE shareholders, adopted, 99.87%. Resolution 6, special distribution in kind of Universal Music Group N.V. shares to Vivendi SE shareholders, adopted, 99.88%. Resolution 7, approval of the information referred to in Article L. 22-10-9 I. of French Commercial Code as set out in the corporate governance report, adopted, 64.28%. Resolution 8, approval of the components of compensation and benefits in kind paid during or allocated for 2020 to Yannick Bolloré, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, adopted, 64.10%. Resolution 9, approval of the components of compensation and benefits in kind paid during or allocated for 2020 to Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Chairman of the Board, adopted, 64.25%. Resolution 10, approval of the components of compensation and benefits in kind paid during or allocated for 2020 to Gilles Alix, member of the Management Board, adopted, 62.91%. Resolution 11, approval of the components of compensation and benefits in kind paid during or allocated for 2020 to Cédric de Bailliencourt, member of the Management Board. Resolution passes, 65.60%. Resolution 12, approval of the components of compensation and benefits in kind paid during or allocated for 2020 to Frédéric Crépin, yours truly, a member of the Management Board, resolution adopted, 62.91%. Resolution 13, approval of the components of compensation and benefits in kind paid during or allocated for 2020 to Mr. Simon Gillham, member of the Management Board, adopted, 62.92%. Resolution 14, approval of the components of compensation benefits in kind paid during or allocated for 2020 to Hervé Philippe, member of our Management Board and CFO, adopted, 64%. Resolution 15, approval of the components of compensation and benefits in kind paid during or allocated for 2020 to Stéphane Roussel, management -- member of the Management Board, adopted, 62.91%. Resolution 16, approval of compensation policy for its Chairman and members of the Supervisory Board for 2021, adopted, 63.70%. Resolution 17, approval of compensation policy for the Chairman of the Management Board for 2021, adopted, 59.76%. Resolution 18, approval of the compensation policy for members of the Management Board for 2021, adopted, 59.92%. Resolution 19, renewal of the term of office of Véronique Driot-Argentin as member of the Supervisory Board, adopted, 94.29%. Resolution 20, renewal of the term of office of Sandrine Le Bihan as member of the Supervisory Board representing employee shareholders, adopted, 97.81%. Resolution 21, authorization to the Management Board for the company to repurchase its own shares, limited to 10% of the company's share capital, adopted, 99.18%. Resolution 22, authorization to the Management Board to reduce the share capital of the company by canceling shares, limited to 10% of the share capital, adopted, 99.50%. Resolution 23, share capital reduction in a maximum nominal amount of 3,261,487,955, i.e., 50% of share capital, by way of the repurchase of the company's own shares. And the resolution is adopted, 73.62%. 24 -- Resolution 24, delegation of authority to Management Board to increase the share capital in our company with preferential subscription rights, the maximum amount of EUR 655 million, nominal amount passed, 93.45%. Resolution 25, delegation of authority to the Management Board to increase share capital by capitalizing premiums, reserves, profits and other items up to a maximum nominal amount of EUR 327.5 million, adopted, 99.41%. Resolution 26, delegation of authority to the Management Board to increase share capital of the company, 5% limit outside of public offer for exchange, adopted, 98.37%. Resolution 27, authorization to the Management Board to make conditional or unconditional grants of shares, existing or to be issued, to employees of the company and its affiliates and to corporate officers. Resolution passed, 93.91%. Resolution 28, delegation of authority to the Management Board to increase the company's share capital in favor of employees and retirees who are participants in the Vivendi group employee stock purchase without maintenance of preferential subscription rights. Passes, 99.17%. Resolution 29, delegation of authority to the Management Board to increase share capital in favor of employees of Vivendi's foreign subsidiaries who are members of Vivendi's international group employee stock purchase plan without maintenance of preferential subscription rates for shareholders. Carried, 99.18%. 30th and last resolution, powers to carry out formalities, adopted, 100%. Detailed results of the votes will be posted on the company's website after this AGM. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Frédéric. Before closing this meeting, I'd like to thank all the team, some of whom are present today, taking part in preparing this event. I'd also like to thank members of the Supervisory Board who've been very busy these past few months with many Board meetings. I'd also like to say a special word of thanks to our nonvoting Board member, Vincent Bolloré, all members of the Management Board, Chair, Arnaud, all members of the Board, all the Vivendi team members and those of the various BUs who took part in the success of this event. And of course, thanks to you, dear shareholders, who took part massively and voted in favor of all the resolutions tabled at this meeting. As you've seen during the course of the various presentations, our group was able to weather the crisis. Its model is strong. And the outlook for us is exciting. I thank you. And see you next year at the Olympia. Meeting adjourned. [Portions of this transcript that are in English were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]