On the big screen, Vivendi Universal SA
Such is the existential life of a French conglomerate. So far, however, these guys have done a tremendous job of turning the company around, as evidenced by yesterday's earnings announcement.
In fact, management indicated that more euros came in the door than flew out; that is, Vivendi earned approximately $157 million.
A joint venture with Vodafone Group
On the earnings call, management characterized liquidity issues as "way behind us." As evidence, we will no longer be treated to that familiar "liquidity" PowerPoint slide in future presentations. Good riddance.
And while hurdles remain in Vivendi's quest to unload its entertainment assets on the NBC network -- a unit of General Electric
Management warned investors not to extrapolate the third-quarter results into the fourth quarter, but this sounds overly cautious. Remember, the company's stated philosophy is "underpromise and overdeliver" -- a notion completely at odds with its former leader, Jean-Marie Messier.
There's work to be done, but this new-look Vivendi is worth watching.
Not convinced? Talk it over on the Vivendi discussion board.
Tom Taulli is the author of six books on investing, such as Investing in IPOs (Bloomberg Press). You can reach him at[email protected].