Havas sees revenue fall, but reduces debt
Havas, owner of agency networks Euro RSCG and MPG, has seen revenue fall 8.2% in the nine months to the end of September, with the UK continuing to be hit by the economic crisis.
The group’s third quarter organic growth was down 9.3%, but was still an improvement on the 9.8% drop in the second quarter this year.
It also reported group revenue of €1.026m during the first nine months, which represented a fall of 8.2%. Average net debt stood at €159m, which was a 49% reduction on the same period last year.
In Europe, France saw a 4.4% fall in revenue due to the loss of the Carrefour account. The rest of Europe however managed to report a Q3 improvement over Q2.
The group says the UK continues to feel the impact of the global recession. However, significant account wins came from Euro RSCG London which landed the global Credit Suisse ad account, while MPG International was awarded the £6m Israel Tourist Office account.
Meanwhile, the world’s largest marketing services group, yesterday (21 October) reported a 22.5% drop in third quarter profit to $165.6m (£100m).
