JCDecaux reported a strong first half of 2026, with organic revenue increasing 5.7% to €1.95bn, driven by continued double-digit growth in digital out of home (DOOH) and programmatic trading.
Recurring EBIT (the companies measure of profit) rose 53.5% to €136.2m, and the media owner expects around 5% organic revenue growth in Q3.
Chairman of the executive board and co-CEO Jean-Charles Decaux described the results as a “strong performance” despite macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, including conflict in the Middle East.
Decaux said the first half growth was supported by double-digit DOOH growth and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
North America was the group’s fastest growing market, with organic revenue increasing 19.6% to €158.7m, followed by the UK, where revenue rose 12.8% to €210.5m.
France, JCDecaux’s largest market, declined by 1.9%, though advertising revenue grew 1%, with the overall dip driven by non-advertising revenue impacts.
Dallas Wiles, co-CEO of JCDecaux UK, said the UK’s performance reflected the “continued strength” of the business.
“As we’ve seen during the World Cup, the growth of programmatic digital out of home is transforming how advertisers use the medium, making campaigns more flexible, data-driven and easier to plan, buy and optimise,” he said.
The results are reflective of broader market trends. According to the latest AA/WARC Expenditure Report, OOH advertising grew 15% year on year in Q1 2026, of which DOOH increased by 17.6%.
The report forecasts continued growth for both OOH and DOOH through 2026 and 2027.
UK adspend rose 9.3% in Q1 2026 driven by double-digit increases in social media, retail media and OOH
When broken down by business activities, street furniture delivered the strongest organic growth, increasing 7.3% to exceed €1bn. On the earnings call, Decaux said the performance “confirms the robustness of our core business”, with street furniture accounting for 51.3% of group revenue.
Transport revenue grew 5.3% in H1 to €690m and continues to recover towards pre-pandemic levels, representing 35.2% of group revenue. Growth came despite a double-digit decline in the Middle East amid regional conflict. Billboard revenue increased 0.8% on an organic basis to €261.1m, although Q2 saw growth of 4.1%.
Addressing the impact of the conflict, Decaux said the company had performed “slightly better than anticipated”, with traffic in Dubai and Abu Dhabi coming in above expectations.
He added: “I think also the authority in the region has stated business as usual, which is helping to basically keep the demand at a good level.”
In the UK, both street furniture (Including bus shelters and kiosks) and transport (including airports, rail, buses and stations) recorded double-digit growth. It comes as JCDecaux’s contract with Heathrow Airport was renewed last month for a further eight years.
Programmatic growth
Programmatic was JCDecaux’s fastest growing revenue stream, accounting for 12.3% of the group’s digital revenue after growing 30.9% organically in H1.
Overall, 12% of JCDecaux’s digital inventory is now traded programmatically, compared with an industry average of around 7%. On the earnings call, co-CEO Jean-François Decaux attributed the company’s relative strength to its ownership of ad tech platform VIOOH.
Despite the UK and US’s high level of digital penetration (77% and 76% respectively, versus the group’s average of 43%), programmatic adoption has been slower than in some European markets.
Jean-François Decaux suggested that for the UK and US, there’s “a fear on their side to be totally disintermediated by the programmatic trading”. He said the UK is now “playing catch up” with Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium, where programmatic penetration is above the group average.
This hesitation in the UK to adopt programmatic was reflected at an IAB UK event earlier this week, where a panel of industry experts – including VIOOH’s senior DSP partnerships manager Emily Bearn – called for better education on programmatic for agencies and brands to accelerate adoption.
Educating brands and agencies will be key to unlocking pDOOH growth, say IAB UK panellists
Adwanted UK is the trusted delivery partner for three essential services which deliver accountability, standardisation, and audience data for the out-of-home industry.
Playout is Outsmart’s new system to centralise and standardise playout reporting data across all outdoor media owners in the UK.
SPACE is the industry’s comprehensive inventory database delivered through a collaboration between IPAO and Outsmart.
The RouteAPI is a SaaS solution which delivers the ooh industry’s audience data quickly and simply into clients’ systems.
Contact us for more information on SPACE, J-ET, Audiotrack or our data engines.
