Net profit at the French company fell to €594 million (US$810 million) from €1.15 billion a year earlier. Last year's comparison figure was inflated by the gains on the sale of Vivendi's shares in chemicals company DuPont Co. for nearly US$700 million (€512 million).

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"We expect to exceed the record year we had in 2006 and we confirm our outlook for an adjusted net income of above €2.7 billion," (US$3.7 billion) Chairman Jean-Bernard Levy said in a statement.

What Vivendi calls adjusted net income is profit excluding certain charges such as impairment of goodwill and income from discontinued operations. In the second quarter, adjusted net income rose to €755 million (US$1.02 billion) from €750 million, below analyst expectations.

Paris-based Vivendi is the owner of Universal Music Group, the world's biggest music company, Canal Plus television, Vivendi Games and telecom operators SFR and Maroc Telecom.

Second-quarter sales rose 7.4 percent, Vivendi said July 25.

Universal Music Group, which hosts artists ranging from Diana Ross to Nine Inch Nails, saw a 3.8 percent rise in second-quarter sales. Canal Plus sales gained 16.3 percent in the quarter.

Sales for Vivendi Games were up 37.8 percent, helped by the popularity of the online role playing game "World of Warcraft." Maroc Telecom gained 23 percent and SFR sales were 3.4 percent higher from a year earlier.

"Vivendi has produced another quarter of solid earnings," said Bear Stearns analyst Nicholas Bell in a research note. The company's full-year guidance "is still conservative and below consensus estimates."

Shares in Vivendi fell 1 percent to €30.23 (US$41.25) in Paris.