Lagardere Sales Fall In First Quarter As Sports Marketing Tumbles

French media group Lagardere said Tuesday that first-quarter sales fell 6.2%, "hit by a decline in sales at its sports marketing business, the press division and book publishing," according to Ruth Bender of MARKET WATCH. Sales in the first three months of the year fell 6.2% to €1.5B ($2.1B) from €1.63B in the same period a year ago. On "a like-for-like basis, stripping out currency shifts, disposals and acquisitions, sales fell" 5.6%. The group's sports marketing business, Lagardere's smallest unit, "posted a 33% decline in sales, hit by the absence of the Africa Cup of Nations and a decline in the media rights trading business in Europe." Lagardere confirmed "its full-year target." The firm "expects earnings before interest and taxes for its core media businesses to grow" by between 0% and 5% in '14, "excluding currency swings and the impact of a possible sale of some press distribution activities the group is trying to offload" (MARKET WATCH, 5/13).