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Didier Guérin
President

Inside this issue:

Overall growth of 4.1% in Asia-Pacific Decrease of 6.9% in the US and 6.4% in Europe China to expand by 14.3% Japan and India to contract While Europe and the US are expected to see a further reduction of magazine advertising spending in 2009 compared with 2008, the Asia-Pacific region will continue to expand during the same period. GroupM predicts the four largest markets in the region – excluding Japan - will expand by an average of 4.1% in 2009, down from 8.4% the year before. As usual China will continue to fuel the expansion of the region with an expected growth of 14.3%, compared with 21.8% in 2008. Australia – which now falls below China in magazine advertising spending – should remain flat (-0.3% compared with +0.7% in 2008) while South Korea will have a slower growth in 2009 (+1.4%) than during the previous year (+2.6%). The biggest surprise of GroupM's "This Year, Next Year" (December 2008) advertising forecasts is India, which is expected to drop by 10% compared with a 10% growth in 2008. Although Japan remains the largest market in magazine advertising in the region, it continues to decline (-9% in 2009) to come back to the level of magazine advertising spending it experienced about ten years ago. Meantime the US magazine industry is expected to contract by 6.9% (following a drop of 5.3% in 2008) and the four largest markets in Europe should follow a similar trend averaging a drop of 6.4% in 2009, down from a negative growth of 3.6% in 2008 (Germany: -2%; UK: -11.5%; France: -3.1% and Italy: -7%). In the last ten years, Media Convergence Asia-Pacific (MCAP) has presented forecasts in magazine advertising spending for the new up-coming year. Based on the data from ZenithOptimedia and GroupM, these projections were based on a country-by-country market analysis usually finalised during the month of July. The present analysis has been the most difficult to make ever. We started with the July 2008 projections which came at the same time as the sub-prime financial crisis was starting to be exposed. New figures came in October at the time when the worldwide economy was slowing down. Finally, the following GroupM’s projections published in mid-December take into consideration the financial and economic turbulence of 2008. GroupM is the parent company to WPP media agencies including MAXUS, MediaCom, Mediaedge:cia and Mindshare. With worldwide billing in excess of US$50 billion and 110,000 employees, GroupM operates more than 2,000 offices in 106 countries.

Source: GroupM Forecasts - December 2008  JAPAN Growth over previous year Magazine Advertising (in million Yen and at current prices) 2007 2008 2009 -4.0% -15.0% -9.0% 458,500 389,725 354,650  CHINA Growth over previous year Magazine Advertising (in million RMB and at current prices) 2007 2008 2009 18.8% 22.0% 14.3% 3,281 4,003 4,575  AUSTRALIA Growth over previous year Magazine Advertising (in million A$ and at current prices) 2007 2008 2009 4.2% 0.7% -0.3% 898 904 901  SOUTH KOREA Growth over previous year Magazine Advertising (in million Won and at current prices) 2007 2008 2009 3.6% 2.6% 1.4% 428,999 440,299 446,403  TAIWAN Growth over previous year Magazine Advertising (in million NT$ and at current prices) 2007 2008 2009 1.5% 1.0% -0.2% 6,454 6,519 6,508  HONG KONG Growth over previous year Magazine Advertising (in million HK$ and at current prices) 2007 2008 2009 14.4% 8.1% 2.0% 4,252 4,595 4,687  INDIA Growth over previous year Magazine Advertising (in million Rupees and at current prices) 2007 2008 2009 16.0% 10.0% -10.0% 7,300 8,030 7,227  NEW ZEALAND Growth over previous year Magazine Advertising (in million NZ$ and at current prices) 2007 2008 2009 2.4% -5.1% -4.9% 257 244 232  THAILAND Growth over previous year Magazine Advertising (in million Baht and at current prices) 2007 2008 2009 -12.9% -2.7% -6.1% 4,687 4,560 4,280  INDONESIA Growth over previous year Magazine Advertising (in billion Rupiah and at current prices) 2007 2008 2009 9.4% 27.0% 20.0% 824 1,046 1,255  SINGAPORE Growth over previous year Magazine Advertising (in million Sing$ and at current prices) 2007 2008 2009 0.2% -3.4% -3.5% 88 85 82  MALAYSIA Growth over previous year Magazine Advertising (in million Ringgit and at current prices) 2007 2008 2009 6.7% 1.7% -2.9% 166 169 164

Invented by the US edition of Glamour, the "Dos and Don'ts" feature was designed to help young women how to dress with elegance. The world of magazine publishing has been far too much affected by the exuberance and irrationality of the finance world without any elegance. A few basic advice are provided below: • DON'T give-up on magazines The industry has been threatened before by several recessions. Magazines will not disappear off the planet and magazines continue to have a great future. • DO invest internationally Remember your Business 101 text book: diversify your exposure by expanding internationally. The magazine industry in Asia is far from mature and many opportunities still exist, especially in China where growth is high and investment is low. • DON'T stop market research The market is changing. Readers' interests are changing. Is your editorial content keeping up with the change? This is a good time to do a little research to measure if your magazines' editorial direction keeps in line with readers’ interests. • DO continue to promote your magazines Keep investing in your brands. In times of uncertainty, consumers tend to stick with what they know best. When everyone else cuts down on promotion, going against the trend gives more mileage to your dollar. This is the best time to increase market share at a reasonable price.

"Challenging times create new opportunities to take risks. Expanding outside one's domestic market is a good risk. Expanding to Asia is a must. " Francis Morel CEO Le Figaro Paris, December 2008