French advertising giant, Havas, has today posted only a small increase in organic revenue for the second quarter of 2004, despite improved conditions in the UK and European markets.
Group revenues which were up by only 0.6% to â‚Ź393 million, after currency rate adjustments for the period March to June 2004, were dogged as expected by a poor performance in the United States which saw revenues drop by 5.9%.
In contrast, revenue in Europe ‘experienced very satisfactory growth’, with the UK trend reversing for the first time since 2001 to see revenues hitting a positive note of 2.3%, compared to the previous quarter when they fell by 4.6%. Although an improved performance for the UK, it still fell behind Havas’ home turf, France, which saw organic revenue growth of nearly 9%.
As with rivals Publicis, Latin America once again proved to be the fastest growing region for Havas with ‘healthy growth’ of 18.5%, along with Asia Pacific which was up 4.0%.
Havas said that a decline in traditional advertising accounts lost at the end of last year was to blame for the poor performance at its largest agency network based in the US, Euro RSCG Worldwide.
Chairman and chief executive officer, Alain de Pouzilhac said: “Less than a year after the strategic reorganisation, the figures for the first half demonstrate that we are on the right track both in terms of growth and profitability.
“We reconfirm our 2004 objectives: positive organic growth and a strong improvement in profit. It is an absolute priority for Havas and all our energy and talent is focused on pursuing this objective.”
Last week, de Pouzilhac confirmed he was interested in bidding for American rivals, Grey Global Group, starting with an offer of over $1 billion (£550 million). It was previously thought that Havas, the smallest of the advertising groups, would be stretched by the purchase of Grey and was therefore not considered as a front-runner for the take-over (see Havas Chairman Confirms Interest In Bidding For Grey).
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