Yesterday’s basket case, today’s turnround story. Vivendi, the French media and telecoms conglomerate, was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy in 2002 after a spate of ill-advised acquisitions by its insatiable leader, Jean-Marie Messier. Today, under Jean-Bernard Lévy, the sprawling company has emerged as one of the media companies least exposed to the downturn.

A drop in net profit masked a robust underlying performance as Vivendi reported its full-year results yesterday. While overall performance was hit by one-offs, including acquisition costs and a writedown on its stake in NBC Universal, Vivendi notched up a respectable 4.9 per cent jump in earnings before interest, tax, and amortisation. It also lifted its dividend 7.7 per cent.