1st Half 2004 – Lagardère SCA consolidated revenues up + 7.7%

Revenues for Lagardère Media rose + 3.3% on a like-for-like basis and the company posted positive growth in all of its businesses.

• Books – Hachette Livre again recorded a solid performance (despite a particularly rigorous basis of comparison, + 11.3% in the 1st half of 2003).
• Press – In an advertising environment that remained lackluster and a highly competitive market, Hachette Filipacchi Médias confirmed its return to growth.
• Distribution Services – After suffering a sharp decline in its level of activity, Hachette Distribution Services has confirmed over the 2nd quarter of 2004 the turn around recorded early this year.
• Lagardere Active again posted a double-digit internal growth rate, driven primarily by the very strong performance of the Radio segment throughout the 1st half.

Reported revenues for Lagardère Media were up + 5.2%, but remained impacted by the appreciation of the euro; on the other hand, the company benefited from the consolidation since January 1, 2004 of the Editis operations retained (130 million €).

Consolidated revenues for LAGARDERE SCA were also driven by the EADS performance (+ 12.8%).

(*) excluding changes in group structure and the effects of exchange rates
NA: not available

LAGARDERE MEDIA

“Lagardère Media”

revenues, excluding changes in the group structure, edged up + 1%. Excluding as well the effects of exchange rates, the growth rate is + 3.3%.

Hachette Livre

Following the acquisition of Editis, Hachette Livre has consolidated the revenues with effect from January 1, 2004 for the publishing companies retained: Dalloz, Dunod, Armand Colin in France, Anaya in Spain, and Larousse. In general, their activity is characterized by a strong seasonality which is heavily weighted towards the 2nd half of the year.
On a like-for-like basis, and despite a particularly difficult basis of comparison (+ 11.3% in the 1st half of 2003), revenues continued to improve (+ 2.8% over the 1st half of 2004). Hachette Livre again benefited from dynamic sales in France, particularly in the “guide books” and “children’s books” segments, and from the success of its “partworks” activities in France and abroad.

Hachette Filipacchi Médias

After returning to growth in the 1st quarter, Hachette Filipacchi Médias posted a slight acceleration in the 2nd quarter on a like-for-like basis. Excluding Russia and China which continued to post growth rates greater than + 20%, and France which performed well in a difficult environment (growth of more than + 2%), primarily due to a particularly dynamic launch policy, advertising generally continued to lag pending a stronger recovery. At the same time, Regional Dailies continued a trend of steady growth quarter after quarter.

Hachette Distribution Services

The 1st half of 2004 (growth of + 2.7% on a like-for-like basis) marked a reversal in trend for Hachette Distribution Services after a long period of a declining growth rate that began in the 2nd quarter of 2003. Airport retail sales, driven by the recovery in air traffic, and the strong performances achieved in Europe (particularly in Spain, Belgium and Poland) drove this recovery.

Lagardere Active

Revenues recorded by the Lagardere Active group were up sharply, + 15.9% on a like-for-like basis (+ 17.7% in raw data).
Radio – The recovery observed since last August continued . The 1st half of 2004 posted growth of more than + 15%; however, this activity is still marked by the very low visibility of its future growth outlook.

Television – This sector achieved strong growth, reflecting the dynamic performance of Production and the success of the theme channels and CanalSatellite, their principal distribution platform.

Lagardere Active Broadband – The strong gains recorded over the 1st half of 2004 were based on the significant gains in market share achieved by the German subsidiary of Legion in providing interactive services to radio stations, and the growth in the use of the mobile internet that drove the performance of Plurimédia in France.

Despite its impact on revenues, the decline of the dollar (- 10% in the 1st half) will have a limited impact on the profitability of Lagardère Media. Since the activities exposed to the dollar risk are located in the United States, the related costs are also denominated in dollars so that the risk is limited to profits.

EADS

The revenues reported on the “EADS” line correspond to 15.04% of the revenues earned by the EADS company.
To conform to the French accounting standards applied by the Lagardère group, the portion of revenues denominated in foreign currencies is restated to value them at the exchange rates at which they were converted.
Up to and including 2003, and because of the specific features of certain hedging instruments now expired, the application of these standards required a restatement of EADS’ revenues.
Revenues for the 1st half of 2004 were up over 12% despite the depreciation of the dollar against the euro (- 10%). The Airbus division delivered more aircrafts, with a more favorable product mix (high proportion of aircraft from the A330/340 family) than in the same period last year. In addition, the Space division benefited from the growth in Paradigm, the satellite military communications service subsidiary.

A leader in media (books, press, audiovisual and distribution of cultural products),the Lagardère group is also present in high technology via its 15.04% holding in EADS.
In 2003 the group posted revenues of €12.454 million, and employs 43,000 men and women in more than 40 countries.
The Lagardère group is listed on the Premier Marché of the Paris Stock Exchange.