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  • Revenues up 13.4% to €945.8 million, organic revenues up 7.6%
  • Operating margin rises 15.7% to €265.0 million
  • EBIT up 22.0% to €168.7 million
  • Net income Group share rises 29.3% to €105.5 million
  • Strong expansion in emerging markets in China, India, Ukraine, Russia and Uzbekistan
  • Strategic acquisition in Germany(1)

Paris, 13 September 2006 - JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company in Europe and Asia-Pacific and the number two worldwide, today announced record results for the six months ended 30 June 2006, reflecting a strong operating performance.

  • Revenues
  • As reported on 26 July 2006, consolidated revenues of €945.8 million increased by 13.4% in the first half of 2006. Excluding acquisitions and the impact of foreign exchange, organic revenues increased by 7.6%. This growth in revenues reflected very good progress in Transport, which continued to show strong organic growth, and a solid performance from both the Street Furniture and Billboard divisions.
  • Operating Margin(2)
  • Operating margin increased by 15.7% to €265.0 million from €229.1 million in the first half of 2005. The Group’s operating margin as a percentage of consolidated revenues reached 28.0%, an increase of 50 basis points compared to the prior period (H1 2005: 27.5%), reflecting a profitability increase in all divisions with Billboard and particularly Transport reporting the highest margin improvements.

Street Furniture: operating margin rose by 8.5% to €207.6 million. The operating margin as a percentage of revenues was 42.7%, an increase of 60 basis points from 42.1% in the same period last year. Strong operating margin increases were recorded in France, the United Kingdom, Central and Eastern Europe, Sweden, Italy and the Netherlands as well as in the newer territories of Asia-Pacific and the United States. The phasing of the contract renewal cycle and the development costs associated with new contracts is expected to reduce the Street Furniture operating margin as a percentage of revenues in the second half of the year.

Billboard: operating margin increased by 15.8% to €34.5 million. As a percentage of revenues, the operating margin reached 15.5% compared to 13.9% in 2005, an improvement of 160 basis points. This significant increase was driven by sound revenue growth over the period, continued investment in quality locations as well as the ongoing benefits from the cost control program and inventory management, particularly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain and Portugal.

Transport: operating margin increased by 186.3% to €22.9 million, leading to a rise in operating margin as a percentage of revenues of 480 basis points to 9.6%, from 4.8% in the same period last year. This improvement was driven both by the very strong increase in revenues, particularly in the United States, and the contribution from the Chinese companies acquired in 2005, whose margins are above the Transport division average.

  • EBIT(3)
  • EBIT increased by 22.0% to €168.7 million, up from €138.3 million in the first half of 2005. The Group’s EBIT margin reached 17.8% of consolidated revenues, up from 16.6% in the same period last year. This was mainly driven by the €35.9 million increase in Operating Margin.
  • Net income Group share
  • Net income Group share increased by 29.3% to €105.5 million, compared to €81.6 million(4) in the first half of 2005. This strong performance reflects the increase in EBIT and equity affiliates as well as the decrease in the tax rate and minority interests.
  • Capital expenditure
  • Net capex (acquisition of tangible and intangible assets, net of disposals of assets) was €82.0 million, compared to €60.1 million in the same period last year. The rise in net capex is due to the planned increase in renewal capex during the period.
  • Free cash flow(5)
  • The Group continued to generate strong net cash flow from operating activities, up 5.5% to €148.5 million compared to €140.7 million in the first half of 2005.
  • Free cash flow decreased by 17.5% to €66.5 million as expected. This variation reflects the increase in net capex over the period.
  • Net debt(6)
  • Financial investments and the first-time dividend payment exceeded the amount of free cash flow generated in the first half of 2006. As a consequence, net debt as of 30 June 2006 increased by €52.9 million to €654.3 million compared to €601.4 million as of 31 December 2005.
  • New business and subsequent acquisitions
  • Recently, the Group has made very good progress in expanding its presence in India, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Russia, as well as Germany.
  • In March, JCDecaux India signed an exclusive 15-year bus shelter advertising contract for the centre of New Delhi, following an invitation to tender. The Group will operate 197 bus shelters, incorporating 591 advertising faces. The bus shelters are being installed in some of the most prominent locations in the centre of New Delhi. JCDecaux India is committed to using this new contract as a showcase to further develop the Street Furniture advertising concept in India.
  • The Group has recently announced that it has signed an exclusive 25-year contract with the city of Tashkent for the operation of street furniture, such as bus shelters, information panels and columns, incorporating advertising. Tashkent, which has a population of 2.1 million people, is not only the capital of Uzbekistan (26 million people) but is also the biggest city in central Asia.
  • JCDecaux has also recently signed a joint venture agreement with the BigBoard Group, the N° 1 outdoor operator in Ukraine, to develop its presence in the outdoor advertising markets of Ukraine and Russia. BigBoard operates more than 7,400 faces in nearly 30 cities in Ukraine (20% market share) as well as more than 3,000 advertising faces in Russia, with a presence in 8 out of the 12 cities with more than one million inhabitants.

In Germany, where the Group has been operating since 1982, JCDecaux has just won the privatisation of VVR-Berek(1), one of the largest outdoor advertising companies in Berlin, operating thousands of Street Furniture and Transport faces in Germany’s capital city. This unique and strategic asset will reinforce JCDecaux as the N° 1 Street Furniture player with a presence in all four largest German cities (Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne) and enhance our Transport portfolio, enabling the Group to provide nation-wide advertising solutions to advertisers.

  • Commenting on the H1 2006 results, Jean-Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and Co-CEO, said:
  • We are very pleased to report record results for the first half of 2006, reflecting the quality of our teams throughout the world who have driven a strong operating performance across our three divisions. Good organic revenue growth coupled with the contribution from acquisitions made in 2005 translated into a double-digit rise in earnings. In the last few months, as part of our strategy of expanding into emerging markets, we have successfully expanded our footprint in China, India, Ukraine, Russia, and Uzbekistan, building clear platforms for future growth. In just three years, the share of revenues from emerging countries out of the Group total revenues has more than doubled to reach 15%. The strong revenue increase from Transport advertising, the overall improvement in the French advertising market compared to 2005, as well as the good progress of our North American and Asia-Pacific operations, should continue fuelling our organic revenue growth, which we still expect to exceed 6% for 2006 - comfortably ahead of forecasts for growth in the worldwide advertising market.
(1) The closing of the transaction is still conditional upon the approval of the German cartel authority. (2) Operating Margin = Revenues less Direct Operating Expenses (excluding Maintenance spare parts) less SG&A expenses (3) EBIT = Earnings Before Interests and Taxes = Operating Margin less Depreciation, amortization and provisions less Maintenance spare parts less Other operating income and expenses (4) Due to the retrospective application of the IAS 21 amendment as of January 1st 2006, H1 2005 Net income Group share was restated following a change in net interests and tax (5) Free cash flow = Net cash flow from operating activities less net capital investments (tangible and intangible assets). (6) Net debt = Debt net of cash including the non-cash impact of IAS39 (on both debt and derivatives) and excluding the non-cash impact of IAS 32 (debt on commitments to purchase minority interests)
  • Next information:
  • Q3 2006 revenues: 25 October 2006 (before market)

Key figures

  • 2005 revenues: €1,745.2M ; H1 2006 revenues: € 945.8M
  • JCDecaux is listed on the Eurolist of the Euronext Paris stock exchange, and is part of the
  • Euronext 100 and FTSE4Good indices
  • N°1 worldwide in street furniture (318,000 advertising panels)
  • N°1 worldwide in airport advertising with 153 airports and more than 300 transport contracts in metros, buses, tramways and trains (207,000 advertising panels)
  • N°1 in Europe for billboards (200,000 advertising panels)
  • N°1 in outdoor advertising in China (79,000 advertising panels in 20 different cities)
  • 725,000 advertising panels in 48 countries
  • Present in 3,400 cities with over 10,000 inhabitants
  • 7,900 employees

Contacts

Communication Department :Albert Asséraf+33 1 30 79 37 35communication-jcdecaux@jcdecaux.com
Investor Relations :Rémi Grisard+33 1 30 79 79 93remi.grisard@jcdecaux.com