French advertising network, Publicis Groupe, has reported strong first quarter revenues and record new business wins and said it sees some encouraging signs in the development of the market.
Consolidated group revenues were up by 57% year on year to €905 million. This strong performance is due to the consolidation of the agencies of the former Bcom3 group which was acquired by Publicis at the end of September 2002 (see
Publicis Revenues Jump 20% In 2002, Buoyed By Bcom3).
The figures were also boosted by the more favourable exchange rates of the euro against the dollar and the sterling pound. On a constant currency basis, revenues were slightly lower than the prior year, a decrease of 1.2%, which nevertheless shows a relative improvement in business compared to recent periods, says Publicis.
Business in the US was firm although some advertisers held back on investments because of the Iraq conflict. In Europe several markets including Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy remained soft spots (as did Brazil). A very similar picture was painted by rival group Havas in its Q1 results (see Havas Revenues Show Weak UK And US, No Recovery Until 2004).
Chairman Maurice Lévy said: “Despite first quarter visibility obscured by the uncertainties caused by the war in Iraq, some encouraging signs were sighted in the first three months of this year. This included confirmation of some positive signs in the US advertising market which were detected in the final quarter of last year, as well as very encouraging growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Depressed markets in several European countries, however, mean that the global market is slightly down.”
Figures compiled by Lehman Brothers show that in terms of organic growth rates, Publicis is behind market leaders Omnicom and WPP, but stronger than Interpublic Group and Havas.
Publicis is the world’s fourth-largest advertising and communications organisation.
