Lagardère sees signs of recovery in media business

French arms-to-media conglomerate Lagardère’s broadcasting and magazines division, Lagardère Active, returned to growth in the first quarter, driven primarily by a slight improvement in the advertising market and by a strong uptick in the Lagardère Entertainment TV production business, which saw the delivery of a large number of programmes in the three months to March 31.

Lagardère Active revenues for the period were up 1.9% year-on-year, or 0.5% on a like-for-like basis, to €407m, after a 16.2% fall in the previous quarter. Lagardère turned in overall revenues of €1.751bn, down 1.5%.