Sales at Lagardère Unlimited, the sports marketing division of media conglomerate Lagardère, dropped by 4.6-per-cent from €213m ($285m) to €204m year-on-year in the six months until the end of June 2013.
In publishing its interim results, Lagardère Unlimited, which owns the IEC in Sports, Sportfive and World Sport Group rights agencies, said that earnings before interest and taxes had increased to €18m. However, this was due to a favourable comparison with the first half of 2012, when the company set aside a provision for risk of €22m on Sportfive’s agreement with the International Olympic Committee to sell broadcast rights for the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games in 40 European markets.
Lagardère said that Sportfive had generated a 12-per-cent increase in revenue thanks to strong sales of rights for German football clubs and the 2013 African Cup of Nations national team tournament.
The company added that sales had declined at World Sport Group due to a contract with the Asian Football Confederation being converted into a commission-based agreement, rather than a buy-out contract.