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Games and Maroc Telecom lift Vivendi Q4 sales
(Adds details, updates share price)
PARIS, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Vivendi (VIV.PA) fourth-quarter sales rose 1.2 percent as buoyant trading at its Maroc Telecom (IAM.CS) (IAM.PA) and in video games helped compensate declines at its music and French mobile businesses.
The French media and telecoms group, which was initially due to publish sales after the market close, said on Wednesday sales in the three months to Dec. 31 rose to 5.545 billion euros
($7.19 billion) from 5.479 billion in the year-earlier period.
Vivendi's full-year sales reached 20.044 billion euros, up from 19.484 billion euros, slightly below expectations of 20.1 billion euros from a Reuters poll of nine analysts.
The stock fell on the results and was down 1.39 percent at 31.81 euros by 0925 GMT.
Vivendi, which controls SFR, France's number two mobile operator and owns Universal Music Group, the world's largest record company, did not give an outlook.
SFR's sales in the three months to Dec. 31 dropped 1.4 percent to 2.181 billion euros and fell 2.1 percent on a comparable basis.
Network revenues -- a closely watched figure -- fell 0.9 percent to 2.067 billion euros.
Maroc Telecom's fourth-quarter sales rose 4 percent to 499 million while video-game revenues were up 33.1 percent at 326 million euros.
The Paris-based group blamed adverse current movements for a 1.5 percent drop in music revenues to 1.657 billion euros.
((Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt, editing by David Cowell, Quentin Bryar; astrid.wendlandt@reuters.com, +33 1 49 49 54 40)) Keywords: VIVENDI SALES/
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