French conglomerate Lagardere will cut between 700- to 1,000 jobs from its media division as it attempts to adapt its magazine, radio and TV operations to the challenges and opportunities of the internet age, FT reports. The media division, comprised of 259 magazines, including Elle, Marie Claire, Paris Match and Car and Driver, said that 7-10 per cent of the media division’s 9,900 jobs would be cut and more than 20 under performing magazines cease publication.
The restructuring will cost at least $104 million, but is designed to yield savings nearly equal to that amount by the end of 2009. The company said it plans to create a new division, Lagardere Active Media, whose mission will be to become a leading player in content generation - especially digital - and content aggregation in all the markets it has a presence in, with particular focus on the US. In an interview with Le Figaro, the company’s CEO Arnaud Lagardere said the future of the group’s internet business is in the US and ruled out any closures in the region, according to AFX (via Forbes). He said the company will have 100 internet sites operating by end-2007 compared to the current 40.
lThe moves come on the news that Lagardere’s magazines and newspapers – grouped together as Hachette Filipacchi Medias – saw profits tank nearly 20 percent. The company is focused on getting the media division to draw 5- to 10 percent of its sales from digital sources by the end of 2009, up from 1 per cent in 2006. It is expected to buy internet businesses in France, other parts of Europe and the US. Lagardere is scheduled to release full-year sales figure on February 8, and full-year profits on March 12. Release.