French media giant Publicis, owners of Saatchi & Saatchi, today announced that H1 results have fallen short of expectations but net profits after deductions were up by 3.8% on H1 2000, boosted largely by new billings.
Publicis reported new billings in Q2 2001 of E700m compared with E105 billion and E850 million reported in new billings by global leaders Omnicom and Interpublic respectively.
Revenues for H1 2001 totalled E687 million compared with E687 million for H1 2000, boosted by last year’s acquisition of Saatchi & Saatchi (see Ownership).
Key Figures
| |
1st half 2000 (euros) |
1st half 2001 (euros) |
1st half 2001 (US$) |
% Rise |
| Billings |
4568 million |
7538 million |
6791 million |
65% (6.3% organic) |
| Revenues |
687 million |
1148 million |
1034 million |
67% (5.5% organic) |
| EBITDA |
132 million |
190 million |
171 million |
50% |
| EBIT |
105 million |
149 million |
134 million |
42% |
| Net profit, excluding minorities before amortisation of goodwill and before exceptionals |
55.8 million |
88 million |
79 million |
57% |
| Net profit, excluding minorities after amortisation of goodwill and after exceptionals |
52 million |
54 million |
49 million |
3.80% |
| Net earnings per share (diluted) before amortisation of goodwill and before exceptionals |
0.59 |
0.63 |
0.57 |
6.80% |
| Cash flows from operations |
90 million |
140 million |
126 million |
56% |
Maurice Lévy, chairman of the Publicis Group executive management board said: “Despite a generally gloomy economy, and while trends remain uncertain in advertising markets and published forecasts have undergone repeated downward revision, Publicis Groupe SA achieved satisfactory billings in the first half, with total growth of 65% and organic growth of the expanded group of 6.3%. Over the same period, it is estimated that worldwide market growth in the sector was under 2%.
We do not expect any spectacular improvement in the second half, but we believe that advertising spending could pick up again due to some particular segments (retail, cars, fmcg Â…). Our aim is to consolidate our strong position and continue to win new accounts to raise our market share. At the same time, we will be pursuing efforts to adapt organisation and costs to the business environment. A number of adjustments to our business structures were already made in the first half of this year, in particular in the US, as will be reflected in financial statements for the period. Despite unfavourable economic conditions, Publicis Groupe SA is assured of organic growth well above that of the industry.”
| Media Buying (Holding Companies) Market Shares, 2000 |
| |
Worldwide |
US |
Europe |
Rest of World |
| Interpublic |
23.20% |
28.80% |
17.20% |
23.70% |
| WPP |
16.90% |
19.20% |
12.30% |
23.50% |
| Omnicom |
12.80% |
12.30% |
13.20% |
12.70% |
| B Com 3 |
11.10% |
15.60% |
5.80% |
12.80% |
| Publicis Group |
10.80% |
10.50% |
10.50% |
12.50% |
| Aegis |
9.60% |
4.20% |
16.90% |
4.40% |
| Grey |
6.50% |
4.60% |
9.30% |
4.40% |
| Havas |
5.10% |
3.80% |
6.40% |
5.00% |
| Tempus |
4.10% |
1.00% |
8.30% |
1.00% |
| Total Market |
145,425 |
63,438 |
61,259 |
20,728 |
| Source: RECMA |
ABN Amro: Hold
