JCDecaux says 2008 sales goal realistic

By Dominique Vidalon

PARIS (Reuters) - Jean-Francois Decaux, chief executive of JCDecaux (JCDX.PA: Cotización), said the group's guidance for underlying sales growth of 6-7 percent in 2008 was "realistic".

Decaux also told the Reuters Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in Paris on Tuesday that Europe's biggest outdoor advertising group was able to raise roughly 1 billion euros ($1.56 billion) for a big acquisition and that this could be done without diluting the shares.

JCDecaux, which is the world's second-largest outdoor advertising group after Clear Channel Outdoor CCU.N, plans to expand in emerging markets in coming years mostly through organic growth but could also make acquisitions there, he said.

Outdoor advertising, benefiting from more and more people traveling and spending time out of their homes, should continue to outperform the global ad market, and JCDecaux should do better than its peers, he added.

The CEO forecast outdoor advertising should grow to around 8 percent of global advertising spend in the next five to 10 years from a level below 6 percent now.

Earlier this month, JCDecaux raised its 2008 underlying sales growth goal from 6 percent.

This was on the back of very strong growth in emerging countries, especially China, and expectations of improved conditions in Britain and France from the second quarter.

"We've always met the guidance since we went public in 2001. Right now 6 to 7 percent is not conservative, not aggressive. It's realistic," he said.