Publicis Groupe has begun 2018 on the front foot after posting a ‘satisfying’ set of results that saw its net revenue rise organically by 1.6% over the first quarter.
The glad tidings were drawn from across North America and Europe where a succession of new global account wins such as Mercedes Benz, Carrefour, Campbell’s and Marriott helped drive its bottom line.
These additions came in conjunction with some significant local wins in the form of Red Bull in the US and Kraft Heinz in China which demonstrated the global reach of the French advertising giant.
Arthur Sadoun, chairman and chief executive of Publicis Groupe, said: “In terms of performance, our net revenue (1) grew organically by +1.6% in the first quarter. This is a satisfying result as it is a much better start than last year (first quarter 2017 was -1.2%).
“The good news came from North America which grew 2.8%. It is satisfying to see the good dynamic of 2017 continue into 2018, particularly in the region where our transformation is the most advanced. Another source of satisfaction is Europe with 0.3% growth despite the fact that the comparable period was very difficult.”
In common with other businesses in the sector Publicis is battling against headwinds originating from the likes of Facebook and Google which are increasingly muscling in on digital advertising revenues.
Credit: Thedrum