Lagardère, France's largest media company, is looking to expand in China and -Russia and to roll out new online ventures to counter the effects of a sharp decline in advertising in western markets.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Didier Quillot, chief executive of Lagardère Active, the media arm of the publishing and aerospace group, predicted "very weak" advertising markets in the US, Spain and Japan and "very difficult" conditions in France and the UK.