Media giant Canal+ strikes settlement with French tax authorities
Shares in Canal+ rose on Friday after the London-listed media conglomerate settled a tax dispute with the French Government.
The StudioCanal owner, which listed in London last December, told investors it expects no impact on cash from the settlement.
French authorities had accused the Paris-based company, formerly a subsidiary of telecoms giant Vivendi, of incorrectly applying lower rates of value-added tax on some of its services.
Canal+ had warned that the dispute could have potentially cost it around €655million.
It anticipates recording some exceptional charges in its first-half results, but told investors the settlement 'removes uncertainty regarding the possibility of a material additional disbursement'.
Alongside this, the firm upheld its full-year outlook on turnover and earnings before nasties, with the latter expected to total approximately €515million.
It came as Canal+ said it was on track to achieve organic growth this year because of a 'material one-off cash improvement'.
But the business cautioned that this would be offset by the end of some contracts and the closure of terrestrial television channel C8 in February.
The group's distribution deal with Disney+ ended at the start of 2025, resulting in its roughly 27 million subscribers losing access to the streaming service.
In late February, C8 shut down after regulators revoked its broadcasting licence following accusations of promoting fake news and conspiracy theories.
Consequently, its first-quarter turnover fell by 2.5 per cent to €1.55billion, although organic sales increased by 1.5 per cent, thanks to a robust performance by its film studios division.
StudioCanal's recent box office successes include the animated sequel Paddington In Peru, horror film The Monkey, romantic drama We Live in Time, and comedy Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy.
In a rare victory for the UK capital, Canal+ went public on the London Stock Exchange last year after Vivendi shareholders voted to spin off the group.
It debuted with an estimated £2.5billion valuation, making it the LSE's largest flotation in two years.
Just 45 businesses applied to join the main London market in 2024, compared to 59 the year before and 111 in 2022, according to the Financial Conduct Authority.
By comparison, 88 companies delisted or transferred their primary listing from the LSE, the largest number since the global financial crisis in 2008, figures from EY have shown.
Canal+ shares rose 7.1 per cent to 215p on Friday morning, although this is far below its initial public offering price of 290p.
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