Positive First Quarter Results For Global Agencies
The global advertising agencies are expected to report upbeat quarter one results says equity research group, Lehman Brothers.
The report shows that Paris based, Publicis Groupe is expected to report the highest organic revenue growth of 4% but total revenues will decline by 7% to €866 million.
WPP and Havas are expected to see Q1 results rising by 2.5% and 0.5% respectively. WPP total revenues are forecast to rise by 7% to £974 million but Havas will see a drop of 11.5% taking it to €355 million.
Lehman Brothers believes that the results of these groups will be helped by the positive results expected to be posted by holding company, Omnicom.
Publicis Groupe very recently started to sound more positive about its Q1 results. It remained subdued after posting 2003 Q4 results but is now saying that business in Q1 is as healthy as it was in Q4.
Maurice Levy, Publicis CEO said of the global advertising market that he expected it to grow by 3-3.5% this year with Publicis taking its share within the industry. This is up from forecasts made in 2003 when he said he expected a growth of 2.5-3% in 2004.
Martin Sorrell, WPP chief executive, told the American Association of Advertising Agencies management conference this week that the group’s results for ‘January, February and March were quite lively’.
Lehman Brothers says it expects continued improvements in the global advertising market, with some signs of life in parts of Europe on top of further strength in the US and Asia Pacific.
Lehman Brothers: www.lehman.com
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