MUMBAI: French company Lagardere has said that its unit Lagardere Unlimited has had a difficult 2011 on account of losses from the Indian Premiere League (IPL).

Profits were hurt despite increased sales due to provisioning, non-collection of debt and litigation, primarily with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in connection with cricket rights at World Sport Group (WSG). Lagardere is the parent company of WSG.

It was a busy sports calendar in 2011, particularly due to the Asian Football Cup (WSG) and qualifying matches for the Uefa Euro 2012. This slightly offset by the absence of revenue from the IPL and no Africa Cup of Nations on the schedule.

Lagard?re Unlimited?s recurring EBIT before associates was negative -?6 million, down ?34 million compared to 2010. Sales grew by 6.2 per cent in the fiscal ended 2011.

Net sales was up 14.5 per cent to ?454 million on a reported basis.

Lagardene (not Legardere Unlimited) managed stable net sales of ?7.6 billion, up 0.2 per cent on a like-for-like basis. Recurring EBIT from Media activities was ?414 million, a reduction of 11.1 per cent at constant exchange rates.

Adjusted net income was ?226 million, down by ?58 million. Net income was impacted by write-downs amounting to ?895 million. At the same time net cash from operating and investment activities was up to ?766m (?320 million in 2010). There was reduction in net indebtedness: ?1,269 million (down ?503 million) and has available cash of ?2 billion.