In its quarterly report released to the French stock exchange last night (6 May), JCDecaux revealed UK street furniture and billboard revenues declined in the first quarter of 2009.
Group-wide, the company said its street furniture revenue was down by 16.8% and most developed markets recorded organic revenue declines due to reduced demand. The results said the UK only experienced a mid single-digit organic revenue decline in street furniture revenue, due to a more favourable 2008.
Double digital declines in street furniture revenue were posted at its North America, Spain and German operations, though France reported a revenue decrease better than the division's average.
JCDecaux's worldwide billboard revenue declined by 18.7% in Q1. Excluding acquisitions and the impact of foreign exchange, they were down by 16.2%, due to weaker demand and subsequent fiercer competition in many markets.
The UK and southern Europe recorded a significant double-digit organic revenue decrease over the quarter, while France experienced a low double-digit decrease and Austria experienced an organic revenue growth.
Decaux said first quarter revenue was strongly impacted by the significant volume and price pressure brought about by advertisers reducing ad spend in the unprecedented economic downturn.
Decaux said the firm would focus strongly on "cost reduction" and "selective capital investment" to ensure JCDecaux's operating margin and free cash flow generation would benefit from the growth in revenue when economic conditions improved.
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