JCDecaux cautious on ad market recovery

The global advertising market showed signs of stabilisation in September, notably in France and China, but it is too early to speak of an upturn, the co-chief executive of JCDecaux said on Wednesday.

Jean-Charles Decaux told Reuters the world's No. 2 outdoor advertising group had no reason to change its outlook for the third quarter. "What we are clearly seeing are signs activity is stabilising. It would be premature to speak of a real market recovery," Decaux said. "But in developed countries such as France and even in emerging countries like China, we see a business trend in September that is showing a sharp improvement from the first half," he added. The fourth quarter would be "key" to assess if "we go from a deterioration to a stabilisation and a recovery or if we stabilise at a low point", he said.