Lagardère announces its objectives for the next five years

Focus on organic growth and reach:
– sales growth⁽¹⁾ of more than 3% per year by 2018
– Group recurring EBIT⁽²⁾ growth of circa 5% per year in average between 2013 and 2018

Lagardère is to present today to the financial community its strategic prospects for the coming years, as part of an Investor Day organised in Paris, in the presence of Arnaud Lagardère, General and Managing Partner, and with the participation of the management teams of the Group’s four divisions.

Over the last ten years, the Lagardère group has implemented a refocusing strategy, streamlining significantly its business portfolio, which offers today an improved profile:

• significant strengthening of the Group’s leading positions in its different markets;
• development of a range of businesses with strong growth potential (Travel Retail, Digital, TV Production, Sports rights management), which now account for close to 40% of Group sales;
• disposal of non-strategic or minority assets;
• sharp increase in international business, particularly in emerging countries.

Following this period of refocusing, the Lagardère group is entering a phase in which it will target faster growth, mainly through an organic growth and innovation strategy, especially in the digital sector.

Based on its solid advantages, the Lagardère group therefore aims to enhance the value of its strong brands and to deploy its innovation skills in terms of content, audiences, formats, technologies and user experience, which will enable it to take advantage of growth opportunities in new markets using complementary business models.

This approach, implemented in all of the Group’s four divisions, may be supplemented by targeted acquisitions.

The Group’s growth strategy should lead to significantly improved performances, for which the following targets have been set:

• organic sales growth of more than 3% per year by 2018;
• average growth in Group recurring EBIT of circa 5% per year between 2013 and 2018. This target, based on 2013 figures published for the Group as a whole, is to be adjusted once the Distribution and Integrated Retail businesses will be sold.

⁽¹⁾Organic growth (at constant scope and exchange rates).
⁽²⁾Recurring EBIT before associates of the four divisions and of the other activities. See definition at the end of the press release.

Definition of Recurring Media EBIT

Recurring Media EBIT of consolidated companies is defined as the difference between income before interest and tax and the following items of the income statement:

• contribution of associates;
• gains or losses on disposals of assets;
• impairment losses on goodwill, property, plant and equipment and intangible assets;
• restructuring costs;
• items related to business combinations:
  – expenses on acquisitions;
  – gains and losses resulting from acquisition price adjustments;
  – amortisation of acquisition-related intangible assets.

The Investor Day presentation will be relayed live on the Group’s website.
A recording will then be available:

www.lagardere.com