PARIS: French headquartered media and telecoms conglomerate Vivendi posted better-than-expected Q2 profits, boosted by a robust performance from pay-TV operator Canal Plus.

Vivendi reported net income of €757 million ($1.1bn; £614m), a 0.3% increase on the year earlier period. Sales jumped 15% to €5.99 billion while operating profit rose 3.2% to €1.36 billion.

Canal Plus' operating profit soared 31% to €181 million, the result of an increase in subscriber numbers and lower production costs for soccer-match broadcasts.

However, Vivendi's SFR, France's second-largest cellphone company, saw profits slip to €716m, lower than analysts' predictions of €732m.

Its Universal Music Group also disappointed with a reported 9.2% drop in operating profit to €148m as CD sales fell and web music downloads failed to generate cash.

Data sourced from Bloomberg.com (France); additional content by WARC staff