Lagardère SCA Announces 2011 First-Half Results

This growth is due mainly to the strong performances of World Sport Group, owing, in turn, to the holding of the Asian Football Cup early in the year 2011.

These performances were partially offset by:
- the non-recognition by World Sport Group (WSG) of revenues from the 2011 Indian Premier League
(cricket), following the litigation between WSG and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). All
revenues have been placed in an escrow account by an Indian court, pending a resolution of the
litigation;
- the non-occurrence of the African Cup of Nations (which created a negative comparison basis for
Sportfive vs. 2010);
- weaker-than-expected sales performances by IEC in Sports.

II. MAIN INCOME STATEMENT ITEMS

RECURRING EBIT OF CONSOLIDATED COMPANIES: €160m in the first-half of 2011, down 10.6%
vs. the first half of 2010.

Recurring EBIT from Media activities fell by 7,9% to €168m.

EBIT (€m)

• Lagardère Publishing’s recurring EBIT fell by 29.6% to €71m. The operating margin thus shrank by 2.4 points.
• This decline is due to the foreseeable slackening of the Stephenie Meyer phenomenon, which made a solid contribution to the first half of 2010, and affects mainly Hachette Book Group in the US, as well as publishing in the UK. Remember that 11 million copies had been sold in the first half of 2010, in addition to sales of international rights.

• Lagardère Active’s recurring EBIT rose sharply by 46.4% to €52m, thanks to solid international advertising revenue. When stripping out International Magazine Publishing (PMI), recurring EBIT came to €20m, or €2m higher than on 30 June 2010, due mainly to good performances of international radio stations (Eastern Europe). As such, the operating margin rose by 0.8 point.

-French radio stations posted a decline, mainly Europe 1, due to a decline in net sales after in-season changes in programming. Profitability also dipped temporarily in TV Production activities, due to a shift in the delivery calendar: the impact will no longer be apparent for full-year 2011.

• Lagardère Services’ recurring EBIT rose by 9.2% to €41m, with a slight increase in operating margin, thanks to further improvement in the Travel Retail profitability.

• Lagardère Unlimited’s recurring EBIT fell from €9m to €4m, due mainly to the following nonrecurring items during the first-half of 2011:

- litigation involving World Sport Group: contractual disputes with the Board of Control for Cricket in
India (BCCI) for cricket rights;
- loss-making contracts and the failure to collect certain receivables.

These items come on top of the previously announced non-renewal of certain contracts (French Football Federation, English and Italian football leagues), as well as weaker-than-expected operating and commercial performances by IEC in Sports (marketing of media rights contracts fell below expectations).

The solid performance of WSG, driven mainly by marketing of Asian Football Cup rights, was not enough to offset these negative items.

Note – Changes in management at Lagardère Unlimited in the first-half: Alain Lemarchand, Seamus O'Brien and Kevin O’Connor were appointed Chief Operating Officers of Lagardère Unlimited, respectively for the Europe/Africa, Asia-Pacific/Middle East and US/South America regions.