Havas Organic Revenue Spurred On By Europe
Paris based advertising group, Havas, has built on the success it achieved during the first half of this year, as third quarter organic revenue outstripped previous quarters to grow by 2.1%.
The period from July to September has been the strongest for the group so far this year, as revenues grew to €338 million, providing further evidence that the advertising recovery is ‘undisputable’.
By region, Europe, excluding France and the UK was the fastest growing during the three months, up 11.1% year-on-year. France also remained strong during the period, growing by 1.1%, however the UK failed to match the positive performance achieved last quarter, as organic revenue growth fell by 1.9%.
North America also showed significant improvements, despite posting a 1.9%, while Asia-Pacific and Latin America remained strong during the third quarter, growing by 7.5% and 9.1% respectively.
The group said it had ‘excellent’ new business wins from January to September this year and at the end of the nine months, billings stood at €1,252 million. During the third quarter alone, Havas won three major advertising accounts; Advair, Nicotinell and Claritin.
Chairman, Alain de Pouzilhac, said: “I can only be delighted by the acceleration of our growth in the third quarter. It shows that the recovery that began almost one year ago is indisputable. With organic growth restored, significantly improved profitability, strong new business and the success of the rights issue, all the fundamentals of Havas are back on track and competitive.
He added: “We are therefore confident in the group’s capacity to achieve positive organic growth and a strong improvement in our profits for the year. This is in line with our commitments, despite having to remain cautious for the fourth quarter, particularly given Havas’s current environment.”
Ever since Havas lost out on Grey Global bidding battle to WPP, reports have suggested that the group has become an increasingly vulnerable take-over target (see City) and further fuel was added to these when the chief executive of WPP, Sir Martin Sorrell, said he had recently been in talks with Havas’ financier.
Havas: www.havas.com
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