Publicis Groupe posts 4.4% drop in revenues

Publicis Groupe, owner of Fallon, Saatchi & Saatchi and ZenithOptimedia, has posted a drop in organic revenues of 4.4% in its first quarter results, year-on-year.

The drop is less than that reported recently for the overall market. WPP Group, Omnicom and Interpublic have all reported results this week.

Publicis Groupe consolidated revenues came to €1,075 million (£963.8 million), up 1.3% year-on-year.

Europe saw an 11.6% drop in organic growth to €357 million (£320 million) but North America rose 13% to €526 million (£471.6 million) and the Middle East & Africa jumped 12.8% to €27 million (£24.1 million), the US growth being attributed to the rise in digital activities.

The group said that the resilience of revenue and the relatively limited decline in organic growth in the first quarter were attributable mainly to the effects of strategy implemented over the past few years.

Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe Maurice Levy (pictured) says: “With a rise of 1.3% in published revenue and a 4.4% decline in organic growth, Publicis Groupe is holding up well in this fiercely turbulent economic crisis.

“Although I cannot be satisfied with the decrease in our organic growth, all available indicators seem to point in the same direction: market deterioration is much worse than anticipated.”

Levy added that the group was gaining market share and that recovery was expected in the summer of 2010.