Paris, 6 May 2008 – JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company in Europe and Asia-Pacific and the number two worldwide, announced today its revenues for the three months ended 31 March, 2008. On a reported basis, revenues increased by 1.9% to €482.2 million compared to €473.1 million in the same period last year. Excluding acquisitions and the impact of foreign exchange, organic revenues increased by 6.9%, reflecting further double-digit growth in Transport offset by a slowdown in Street Furniture and Billboard activities which were impacted by softer market conditions in France and the United Kingdom.
Organic revenues grew faster than reported revenues mainly because of significant negative foreign exchange variations (weaker US dollar, British pound, Hong Kong dollar and Chinese yuan versus the euro compared to the same period last year). Core advertising revenues, excluding revenues related to the sale, rental and maintenance of street furniture products, rose by 5.2% organically.
Q1 Revenues
|
2008
(€m)
|
2007
(€m)
|
Reported growth (%)
|
Organic
growth(1) (%)
|
|
Street Furniture
|
238.6
|
239.0
|
-0.2%
|
2.7%
|
|
Transport
|
134.7
|
120.6
|
11.7%
|
23.2%
|
|
Billboard
|
108.9
|
113.5
|
-4.1%
|
-1.5%
|
|
Total
|
482.2
|
473.1
|
1.9%
|
6.9%
|
(1) excluding acquisitions/divestitures and the impact of foreign exchange
Street Furniture revenues decreased by 0.2% to €238.6 million from €239.0 million in the first quarter of 2007. Excluding acquisitions and the impact of foreign exchange, organic revenues increased by 2.7% over the period. Core organic advertising revenues, excluding revenues related to the sale, rental and maintenance of street furniture products, rose by 1.4%.
France reported flat and the United Kingdom and Germany negative revenue growth due to challenging market conditions and a high 2007 comparable for the United Kingdom. This was more than offset by double-digit organic revenue growth in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the Netherlands, while solid revenue growth was achieved in Scandinavia, Belgium and Southern Europe.
North America, Asia-Pacific and the Rest of the World produced double-digit organic revenue growth.
Transport revenues rose by 11.7% to €134.7 million from €120.6 million in the first quarter of last year. Excluding acquisitions and the impact of foreign exchange, organic revenues rose by 23.2%.
With the exception of the United Kingdom, where advertising revenues were down over the period, strong growth was achieved across all our major European Transport markets. Double digit revenue increases were achieved in Scandinavia as well as in Central and Eastern Europe, while strong growth was recorded in France and Southern Europe.
In the United States, strong double digit organic revenue growth was supported by increased revenues from the Los Angeles Airports, where the contract commenced in April 2007. In China, our Transport activity continued to generate double digit revenue growth, benefiting from increasing advertising spend ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
Billboard revenues decreased by 4.1% to €108.9 million from €113.5 million in the same period last year. Excluding acquisitions and the impact of foreign exchange, organic revenues were down by 1.5%.
While revenues decreased in the United Kingdom, due to soft market conditions and a high comparable in the first quarter of 2007, revenues achieved slight growth in France, supported by further innovations in sales and marketing. Double digit organic revenue growth was achieved in our largest billboard markets in Eastern Europe as well as in Southern Europe, while Ireland continued to grow satisfactorily over the period.
Commenting on the first quarter revenues and prospects for 2008, Jean-François Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and Co-Chief Executive Officer, said:
“Our first quarter revenues showed solid organic growth, principally driven by further double-digit growth from our Transport division.
With market conditions improving slightly in France and the UK from the second quarter onwards, we now expect organic revenue growth to be between 6 and 7% in 2008, slightly ahead of previous expectations. Growth is likely to be driven by a double-digit increase in our lower margin transport division, supported by improving trends in our street furniture and billboard divisions, the latter benefiting from the recently won French Railways contracts. We also anticipate a solid performance in the United States and the rest of Europe and a strong contribution from China and other emerging markets.»
