Lagardère hit by production delays and ad downturn

Lagardère Active, the arm of the French conglomerate responsible for TV, radio and magazines, continued to be hit by adverse conditions in the advertising market in the third quarter.

Lagardère Active turned in third quarter revenues of €222 million, down 11.5% on a like-for-like basis, which it attributed to the temporary effect of shifts in delivery times for TV production towards the end of the year as well a contraction in the advertising market.  However its TV channels managed to turn in 3.7% growth in revenues.

Lagardère said the effect of delays in the delivery of shows including Le Transporteur, la série, season two of Borgia and Jo, would be reversed in the fourth quarter.

Lagardère Active’s revenues for the nine months to September were down 6.3% on a comparable basis and 37.5% on a gross basis to €672 million, with the gap attributable to costs relating to the disposal of its PMI arm and Russian radio services.