Paris, 9 May 2007 – 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, 2007. On a reported basis, revenues increased by 7.0% to €473.1 million compared to €442.2 million in the same period last year. Excluding acquisitions and the impact of foreign exchange, organic revenues increased by 5.8%, reflecting improvement across all three divisions, particularly in Billboard. Core advertising revenues, excluding revenues related to the sale, rental and maintenance of street furniture products, rose by 6.8% organically.
Q1 Revenues | 2007 (€m) | 2006 (€m) | Reported growth (%) | Organic growth(1) (%) |
Street Furniture | 239.0 | 227.5 | 5.0% | 3.6% |
Transport | 120.6 | 110.8 | 8.8% | 7.6% |
Billboard | 113.5 | 103.9 | 9.2% | 8.5% |
Total | 473.1 | 442.2 | 7.0% | 5.8% |
Transport revenues rose by 8.8% to €120.6 million from €110.8 million in the first quarter of last year. Excluding acquisitions and the impact of foreign exchange, organic revenues rose by 7.¬6%. Organic revenues grew in double digits across many geographies including the large markets of France, Spain and Portugal, while the United States and Austria produced high single-digit revenue growth over the period.
Billboard revenues improved by 9.2% to €113.5 million from €103.9 million in the same period last year. Excluding acquisitions and the impact of foreign exchange, organic revenue growth was 8.5%. With double-digit organic revenue growth, the United Kingdom reported the best performance overall, benefiting from both a strong market outperformance and the recently-signed contract with BT payphones. Portugal and Ireland also grew in double digits over the period, while Spain and Austria produced strong revenue increases. In France, despite the opening of broadcast TV advertising to retailers, revenues grew slightly.
Commenting on the first quarter revenues and prospects for 2007, Jean-Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and Co-Chief Executive Officer, said: “As anticipated, our first quarter advertising revenues showed solid organic growth, reflecting sound increases across our three segments, and the particularly good performance of our Billboard division. We continue to expect that our organic revenue growth in 2007 will be similar to that in 2006, within a likely range of 7-8%, reflecting the good opportunities in our markets and an acceleration of revenue growth in Transport.”