The Lagardère Sports and Entertainment division of media conglomerate Lagardère has reported a substantial rise in turnover and operating profit for its 2015 financial year, fuelled by major events on the football calendar.
Lagardère Sports said sales totalled €515m ($567.5m), up 30.9 per cent on a reported basis and up 19.6 per cent like-for-like. The group said the sharp increase in activity was attributable to the “favourable impact” of the football calendar and the good start of stadium management operations.
Last year saw key Lagardère Sports national team football events being held in the form of the Africa Cup of Nations and Asian Cup, hosted in Equatorial Guinea and Australia respectively. Lagardère Sports added that another key factor in the period was the positive performance of marketing operations in Europe and services, encompassing ticketing, marketing rights and media, relating to the organisation of the 2015 African Games multi-sport event in Brazzaville, Congo.
As a result, the division continued to improve its profitability. Recurring EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) rose by €16m to €20m, thanks to the positive impact of the football calendar and an underlying improvement in operations.
The financial report noted that €30m in restructuring costs were incurred relating to Lagardère Sports and Entertainment. In Asia this was connected to World Sport Group, closure of the cricket division in India and other loss-making activities. In Europe this related to restructuring of the division.
In September, Lagardère Unlimited announced the decision to unify all its agencies under the single commercial brand name of Lagardère Sports and Entertainment. The development meant that the Sportfive, World Sport Group, IEC in Sports, Sports Marketing and Management and Lagardère Unlimited Inc. brand names were discontinued.
The agencies came under the Lagardère Sports umbrella name, with all entertainment businesses, most of which are operational in France, coming under the Lagardère Live Entertainment brand.
The 2015 financial results follow a 6.6-per-cent year-on-year fall in turnover in 2014. Lagardère last year reported sales of €394m for its Unlimited arm. The group said the “expected impact” of the football calendar, mainly driven by no Africa Cup of Nations in 2014 and the continued phasing out of the media rights trading activities from the Sportfive International agency, explained the reduction in sales volume.