The Lagardère group, the subject of a takeover offer from Vivendi, saw its turnover jump 44% in the first quarter thanks to the almost doubling of sales in its stores in stations and airports, according to a press release published on Tuesday.
Over the period, the group that owns Hachette achieved a turnover of 1.3 billion euros (+38% at constant exchange rates and scope).
Publishing experienced "
a high level of activity after an unparalleled dynamic recorded over the previous two years
", explains the group, which notes a less favorable trend in March.
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The turnover of Hachette, the world's third-largest publisher, increased by 1.4% like-for-like to 554 million euros.
In France, its sales fell by 1.3%.
And the weight of the more profitable digital book fell to 8.1% of total sales (compared to 9% in the first quarter of 2021).
Lagardère, however, benefited from the resumption of activity in its Travel Retail branch (Relay shops and duty-free in airports), which was very affected by the health crisis.
Its turnover amounted to 694 million euros, almost doubling (+97%) on a like-for-like basis.
"
These very positive developments reflect the rebound in activity despite the effect of the Omicron variant.
The start of 2022 confirms the recovery momentum recorded at the end of 2021. However, activity has not yet returned to its 2019 level
” (-28.7% compared to the first quarter of 2019), underlined the group.
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"
France, Europe and North America confirmed strong momentum, while activity in Asia-Pacific continued to suffer from transport restrictions.
Lagardère's media revenue was down 1.1% in the first quarter due to the fall in radio audiences (Europe 1) and despite the "
good performance
" of advertising in the press division (JDD, Paris Match), up 5%.
The group has maintained its annual outlook, ie a stable level of sales for its publishing division, the profitability of which will be affected by the rise in the cost of raw materials such as paper.
The distribution branch is for its part
vigilant about the evolution of air traffic in 2022 and is confident about its ability to adapt in this environment which remains unstable, although gradually improving.
»