JCDECAUX SE 
PARIS (Reuters) - French outdoor advertising company JCDecaux (>> JCDECAUX) is planning to reduce investments in Britain following the country's vote to leave the European Union, its co-chief executive said on Thursday.
The family-run company said it would review the number of screens it is installing in Britain following the "Brexit" vote in June.
"We have to make sure that our business is the right size for the demands of the customers," Jean-Charles Decaux told BFM Business Radio, highlighting concerns over an expected slowdown in UK economic growth.
"We will remain active in Britain, but a little less than if the vote had not been for Brexit," he added.
JCDecaux is number one in outdoor advertising in the UK and the UK market is its third largest in terms of revenue.
It is currently working on a project to place 1,000 84-inch digital screens across London bus shelters in major shopping areas, which has been delayed by contractual issues, but said that would not be impacted by the Brexit vote.
JCDecaux also said it expected third-quarter organic revenues - excluding acquisitions, disposals and currency moves - to rise by a low-single digit percentage, reflecting lower global growth forecasts and the uncertainty over Brexit.
Its shares were down 4 percent in afternoon trade, after earlier falling more than 7 percent on the subdued outlook.
SHIFT FROM BRITAIN
The Brexit vote is pushing companies across Europe to review investment plans for the country or expand elsewhere. France's Schneider Electric (>> Schneider Electric) also said on Thursday it would review pricing and investments in Britain.
The world's largest advertising company WPP (>> WPP PLC) has said it will focus growth more on western continental Europe or emerging markets as a result.
JCDecaux co-CEO Jean-Francois Decaux said it was clear the Brexit vote would have an effect on the British advertising market, but it was hard to quantify.
According to an industry survey this month by IPA Bellwether, spending on advertising by companies in Britain will fall 0.2 percent and 1.3 percent in 2016 and 2017 respectively, the first time Bellwether has predicted a fall in ad spend since 2013.
At the start of the third quarter, JCDecaux had installed 200 screens as part of the bus shelter project, instead of 500 originally planned. The company said the installations were taking longer than expected due to Transport for London's model for the contract involving several partners.
The co-CEOs added on a conference call they had seen good demand for the digital screens so far, with the associated revenues coming in higher than expected.
Jean-Francois Decaux told Reuters the company hoped to catch up the delays on the project by the end of the year.
(Reporting by Gwenaelle Barzic; Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Susan Thomas and Mark Potter)
By Gwénaëlle Barzic
