At the time are you confident for 2010AD

You have since long the ambition to be the number one world of external communication. This goal now at hand

Jean-François Decaux. Must await the end of the year to claim the title of world number one. But on the first quarter, it is done. In terms of turnover, we have moved to Clear Channel and we are making a turnover twice higher than the number three, CBS Outdoor, while our companies were of equivalent size only a few years ago. We beat our competitors in 2008 and 2009 and, on the second quarter of 2010, we continue to focus on organic growth 9 greater. We should be the first global player in terms of turnover on the first half. But more size, we had indicated, in our introduction on the stock market, ten years ago, we wanted to be number one in terms of profitability and creativity. And we have our goals.

Has the crisis not weakened you

Jean-Charles Decaux. We have gone through a crisis as we had never known. When gross domestic product displays a fall, everyone suffers. In its first 45 years of history, our group had only two quarters of decline. We recorded in four in 2009. It is you say the magnitude of the shock! But this shock, we it have better absorbed than others. We have seen our turnover back 10, in line with the market, while we were of very high since, in 2008, we had growth of 6.3, be the strongest organic growth of the sector.

At the time, are you confident for 2010

AD. D. On feels a global recovery. Advertisers were everywhere, in all sectors, regained appetite. External communication WINS television or print for example market shares. Nevertheless, we still lack visibility. Emerging countries appear to be divided, but who can say what will be the economic consequences of austerity measures in some countries of the euro area What will be the impact of the end of the stimulus measures taken in the rest of the world The world economy partly lived under infusion of cash and it will stop.

And in the medium-long term, what are your prospects

J.-F. D. Advertising market growth depends to a large part of economic growth: not being economists, we we will hold well to make forecasts in this field. But we have seen in the past, that when the economy showed growth of 3, advertising progressed by 5, all combined media, while external communication progressed, she, 6 or 7. And, in this environment, we tend to outperform at 7-8. Today, our trade is carried by structural trends. We benefit from urbanization, which is not denied. For the first time in the history of humanity, more than 50 of the population lived in the city in 2009, and this rate may rise to 70 in 2050. We are already present in 35 of the 50 largest European cities and we position ourselves in the new mega-cities, such as Moscow, Istanbul, Beijing, Shanghai, Bombay or New Delhi. Crisis or step, our audience continues to grow.

Of course, but it is also increasingly regulatory attempts to better supervise the display

AD. D. it's true, but we understand and support the desire of the regulator to better oversee the advertising on the public domain. Not only because this allows better combat wild display, but also because we have technical answers to satisfy this new requirement. We have proven it in Paris, where we have reduced the number of furniture 20: as we have in place at the same time the drop-down devices, we have nevertheless managed to double our advertising sales.

The other threat facing you, it is the Internet

J.-f. d. Internet not as a threat us, to the contrary. The rise of the Web subverts the economic models of the press and television. Not ours. It is in the consumption of media at home that the hearing more and more fragmented not outdoors. Moreover, with increasing urbanization, more and more people spend more time in transportation. Thus, the time of exposure to our messages continues to increase. If according to the forecasts of the media agencies, in the next five years, the Internet will certainly be the media that will register growth rate the highest with two-digit growth, but the external communication just behind, comes with a growth of 5 per year on average.

What balance make you Vélib, after the nasty surprises due to vandalism

AD. D. the first two years have certainly been more costly than expected, but we also had good surprises, including on the number of users. In the end, the balance is very positive because with Cyclocity we invented a new economic model by Fund cycling in self-service advertising and not by the community. We have developed an experience, which allowed us to win many tenders and to be present today with the bike system

The crisis can also be an opportunity. Is this the case for you

J.-F. D. Partly Yes, because it has weakened some of our competitors who had won contracts in building very optimistic business plans. And it has provided opportunities to well managed companies who have not committed excess. We have seized the opportunities in terms of external growth. For example, we have just repeat some of the assets of the Titan, four number group to the United Kingdom, in very good condition. This operation gives us access to the first eighteen stations of Great Britain. Thus, we have strengthened our position as number one in this market. We were also able to take control of our German partner, the number two of the market, Wall, which we already had 40 of the capital. Thus we are number two in Germany. In France, we renewed our main contracts. So today we have strong positions on the first three European markets.

Are there other opportunities Particularly in the United States, where you are less present

J.-F. D. American capitalism is capitalism movement. The players change hands regularly. There will certainly be opportunities. In twelve years, the activity display of CBS has already changed several times owner. If this asset is again for sale in reasonable conditions, but we could be a good candidate Clear Channel is, in the hands of financial investors who, in the next five years, will be also, no doubt, want to opt out.

Do you have the means in realizing such ambitions

J.-F. D. The family is ready to dilute the capital without losing control, if there is an interesting operation to us. But we know keep cool heads. JCDecaux is the only group in our industry to do not depreciate a single assets of more than a few tens of millions of euros. Our competitors have spent several billion of write-downs. A good acquisition will judge on the duration. We will be very selective. In America as in the rest of the world.

In countries developing, what is your strategy

AD. D. We realize already 22 of our turnover in the Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central, in the Middle East and Latin America, and our goal is to reach the 25-30 by 2015. We are already leaders in China and we have beautiful positions to develop in India. China is our second market behind the France. In these countries, it must be pragmatic. To adapt to the local context. In China, for example, we grew by external growth and we build on transport, the regulation allows to evolve a framework for the rules of the game clear: airports, train stations, subways. In India, on the other hand, we will focus on organic growth with an emphasis on urban furniture. Finally, there may still be opportunities that arise. If, tomorrow, there is a gateway to Sao Paolo, city that attracts 65 investment in external communication of the Brazil, we regarderions.

And in developed countries, are there still reserves of growth

AD. D. course. Do not underestimate the mature markets. Even in France, where the external communication already captures 12 of the total advertising market, compared to 6.6 in the world, there is a potential for growth. Be listening to the client. We have demonstrated that could grow with the Vélib' or the display drop-down in Paris. Our offer is refined, is segmented, and therefore new advertisers turn to us: in the car, luxury, large consumption for example. In other countries, like Britain, we have demonstrated that could advance the display, in ten years, from 5 to 10 of the advertising market. And then there is technological innovation, the boom of digital and screens, offering a new relay of growth. Can combine information and advertising. It is very relevant in places of life as airports where there is a real need for information. But also in major cities where you can go through the screens of the Metro to transmit in real time of important messages to the population. Public authorities interested in the highest point.

Digital, this is a revolution

AD. D. This is not a revolution but evolution. This allows to enrich the offer. But there are also the rethink at all levels of the chain. It will have to create appropriate and specific messages. This will happen gradually. The short term, deploy flat screens has a cost in terms of Capex, but over time, we can benefit from very favourable operating costs.

Ten years after your introduction on the stock market, what is your stock balance

J.-F. D. We are now about 20 over our introductory course. However, the majority of the other values media has fallen sharply, the DJ Stoxx Media index is 56 below its value in 2001, the ACC 30 lower. We are proud of this performance. We respect elsewhere before the Medef recommendations: since 2001, my brother and I have not received a single melding. We have been able to remain which the heart is a family, but that created value for the shareholder.