TV production and channels boost Lagardère Active

A strong performance from its TV production arm and a decent showing from TV channels helped compensate a decline in advertising elsewhere to deliver like-for-like revenue growth of 1.6% for Lagardère Active in the first quarter.

The French conglomerate’s media arm delivered revenues of €222 million for the quarter, up 1.6% on a comparable basis and 6.9% gross, with the difference between the two attributable to the acquisition of websites LeGuide.com and BilletReduc.com.

TV production revenues were up 82.1% year-on-year, thanks to the delivery of shows including Clem, Odysseus, Famille d’accueil, Nos chers voisins and Si près de chez vous.

Revenue from channels was up 3.5% year-on-year, with a good performance from international distribution.

Lagardère Active was hit by a reduction in print advertising and distribution revenues and a decline in eastern European radio advertising sales.