Lagardère Active improves profitability, CSA mulls Elle TV proposal

Lagardère Active, the media arm of the French conglomerate, improved its profitability last year thanks to improved cost control, the sale of Virgin 17, and improved results from its digital unit.

The unit produced a net operational result of €95 million, up €10 year-on-year. Revenues were €1.441 billion, up 1.3% on a comparable basis, but down 21% in absolute terms thanks to the sale of its PMI unit.

Lagardère this week made the case for its plan to launch channel Elle TV on the digital-terrestrial platform before media regulator the CSA. The company is handicapped to some extent by its previous decision to withdraw the Virgin17 channel from the platform. Lagardère boss Arnaud Lagardère has also said he is “not so optimistic” about the prospects for investment in DTT services.

Lagardère overall saw its net income fall by €58 million to €226 million, while revenue was more or less flat at €7.7 billion.