Russ Curry, Ministry of New Media
JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, announced today its 2021 half-year financial results.
Jean-François Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board and Co-CEO of JCDecaux, said “Our H1 2021 group revenue reached €1,082.3 million, a +0.6% yoy revenue growth or +2.9% on an organic basis driven by a better than expected Q2 2021 organic growth at +80.2% thanks to a strong street furniture revenue growth across all geographies, notably in Europe. While the first quarter of 2021 was highly impacted by strict Covid-19 restrictions around the world, our Street Furniture and Billboard activities have significantly rebounded in the second quarter along with the urban audience recovery as stay-at-home requirements were progressively lifted. Transport was still suffering from a lower level of commuters than pre-pandemic in public transport and almost non-existent international air traffic with North America and UK which were the most affected regions over the period while Mainland China saw a double digit rebound thanks to domestic air traffic almost back to pre-Covid level.
Digital Out Of Home (DOOH) represents now 22.8% of total group revenue with a very positive momentum for our programmatic advertising trading. The VIOOH platform which is the most connected DOOH supply-side platform is now active in 13 countries following its launch in Australia and in France.
Despite our limited revenue growth of €6.9m in H1 2021, our adjusted operating margin has greatly improved (by €93.2m), turning positive at €31.4 million vs -€61.8 million in H1 2020 thanks to a revenue mix geared toward the higher margin Street Furniture business segment and to our ongoing cost reduction actions, including rent reliefs, staff cost optimisation and overheads management. Our tight control over working capital requirements and selective capex reduction as well as the decision not to distribute dividends for the second year in a row allowed us to contain our free-cash-flow at -€63.2m in H1 2021 and our net debt at around €1.2bn at the end of the period. We continued to strengthen our ESG leading initiatives and commitments in H1 2021 such as our carbon neutrality target for France from 2021 onwards.
As far as Q3 2021 is concerned, although the global advertising market remains highly volatile with low visibility and with some depressed audience levels which might take time to recover such as international air traffic and mass transit, we now expect an adjusted organic revenue growth above +20% yoy based on positive trends in our current trading with some activities close to pre-covid levels, provided that mobility restrictions do not rise significantly.
I would like to sincerely thank our teams across the world for their strong commitment, their resilience, their agility and their innovation spirit.
As the most digitised global OOH company with our new data-led audience targeting and programmatic solutions, our well diversified portfolio, our ability to win new contracts, the strength of our balance sheet and the high quality of our teams across the world, we believe we are well positioned to benefit from the rebound. We are more than ever confident in the power of our media in an advertising landscape increasingly fragmented and more and more digital and in the role it will play to support the economic recovery as well as to drive positive changes.”
- Adjusted revenue up +0.6% to €1,082.3 million
- Adjusted organic revenue up +2.9%, with Q2 at +80.2%
- Adjusted operating margin of €31.4 million, +€93.2 million yoy
- Adjusted EBIT, before impairment, of -€166.9 million, +€91.6 million yoy
- Net income Group share of -€161.3 million, +€93.7 million yoy
- Adjusted free cash flow of -€63.2 million
- Third quarter 2021 adjusted organic revenue growth above +20%
STREET FURNITURE
First half adjusted revenue increased by 17.0% to €561.6 million, 17.2% on an organic basis, as the activity rebounded mainly from Q2 as the Covid-19 restrictions were progressively lifted. France, UK and Rest of the World rebounded significantly while North America was the only region with a negative evolution.
First half adjusted advertising revenue, excluding revenue related to sale, rental and maintenance of street furniture were up 17.7% on an organic basis compared to the first half of 2020.
In the second quarter, adjusted revenue increased by 118.9% to €337.8 million. On an organic basis, adjusted revenue increased by 118.4% compared to the same period last year. All regions recorded strong increases in revenues compared to a challenging Q2 last year, notably Europe.
Adjusted advertising revenue, excluding revenue related to sale, rental and maintenance of street furniture were up 140.0% on an organic basis in Q2 2021 compared to Q2 2020.
TRANSPORT
First half adjusted revenue decreased by -20.0% to €338.4 million, -16.5% on an organic basis, significantly impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak, reflecting a significant decline globally mainly in international airport passenger traffic but also, to a lesser extent, in public transport. Asia-Pacific, with a domestic air traffic above pre-covid levels in China, and Rest of the World were up. North America and Europe continued to be affected significantly by air traffic restrictions.
In the second quarter, adjusted revenue increased by 32.3% to €186.8 million. On an organic basis, adjusted revenue increased by 35.9% compared to the same period last year. Europe and Rest of the World had a strong rebound while North America was the only negative region due to the end he New York airports contract.
BILLBOARD
First half adjusted revenue increased by 5.7% to €182.4 million, 10.9% on an organic basis. All regions have been positive, Asia-Pacific and North America experienced the strongest rebounds in line with the pick-up of vehicular audiences.
In the second quarter, adjusted revenue increased by 83.8% to €103.4 million. On an organic basis, adjusted revenue increased by 86.4% compared to the same period last year with Asia-Pacific, UK and North America being the strongest rebounds.
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