French media Lagardere 2009 sales fall, confirms outlook

French media group Lagardere kept its 2009 profit outlook on Thursday despite a 3.9 per cent fall in full-year revenue as several best-selling books led an upturn at its publishing business. The world's biggest publisher of consumer magazines said sales trends during the fourth quarter were more favourable than those of the third quarter and added that its Lagardere Publishing division had performed better than expected. "Given the level of our 2009 full-year sales, we expect to be close to the top end of our guidance for the year-on-year change in recurring EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) before associates (excluding Lagardere Active)," the company said in a statement. Lagardere said its book publishing division had benefited from best-selling titles such as the Stephenie Meyer saga and Edward Kennedy's "True Compass" title. Lagardere, which owns Elle magazine, Europe 1 radio, a stake in pay-TV group Canal Plus and a stake in European aerospace group EADS, posted 2009 sales of €7.892bn ($10.88bn). A Reuters poll of 16 analysts had given an average sales forecast of €7.996bn. Lagardere shares closed at €27.44 on Wednesday, giving it a market capitalisation of €3.57bn.