JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company in Europe and number two worldwide, has announced that MCDecaux (a joint venture of JCDecaux SA and Mitsubishi Corporation, 60% of which is owned by JCDecaux), has been awarded an exclusive 20-year contract for 300 advertising bus shelters (600 advertising panels) in downtown Kobe following a tender offer.
Following the initial installation of 13 bus shelters next December, the focus for the first six months will be on presenting the advertising bus shelter concept to the residents of Kobe and recording their reactions. The contract will be confirmed following a positive response to the shelters.
Kobe, Japan’s largest port, forms the country’s second largest urban area (together with Osaka and Kyoto). With 1.5 million inhabitants, Kobe is the sixth largest city in Japan and home to the Japanese headquarters of Nestlé and Procter & Gamble.
The city of Kobe’s decision to award the contract to MCDecaux was based on a number of factors, including the confirmation of the 20-year Yokohama contract, the favourable opinion expressed by 75% of the inhabitants questioned, MCDecaux’s recent win of the Nagoya contract and the Japanese government’s official recognition of the role of the contracts in stimulating the Japanese economy.
Jean-Charles Decaux, Co-CEO of JCDecaux, said: “This new contract confirms the acceptance of the advertising bus shelter concept and allows us to establish a long-term presence in Japan with three major cities in three of the country’s most thriving regions: Kanto, Chubu and Kansai. Strengthened by the support of three of Japan’s six most populated municipalities, our objective now is to accelerate our growth in the Japanese market and consolidate our position as world leader in the Street Furniture market.”
Key figures
2004 revenues: €1,627.3 million; H1 2005 revenues: €833.7 million
JCDecaux is listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris and is part of the Euronext 100 and FTSE4Good indexes
N°1 worldwide in street furniture (311,000 faces)
N°1 worldwide in airport advertising with 155 airports and more than 150 transport contracts in metros, buses, trains and tramways (208,000 faces)
N°1 in Europe for billboards (197,000 faces)
716,000 advertising faces in 45 countries
Present in 3,500 cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants
