Publicis reported first quarter revenue up 13% to € 1.5M ($1.9B) with expectations for stronger growth in the second half of 2012.
“We remain confident about this year despite macroeconomic uncertainties that beg caution,” said CEO Maurice Levy. “We believe that the second half of the year will see stronger and steadier growth than the first half-year.”
Growth at its PR units, which fall under its Specialized Marketing Services division, hit 6% at firms including MSLGroup and Kekst and Company. The SAMS division overall was 19% of Q1 revenue, vs. 21% in Q1 of 2011.
Overall organic growth was up 4.1%. Levy called “mature markets” like North America and Europe “reasonably steady” on gains of 3.3% and 3.6%, respectively, while emerging markets and digital growth (15.6) topped 10 percent.
Publicis last month bought two experiential marketing shops in Asia to boost its MSLGroup PR unit. It acquired U.S. tech PR giant Schwartz Communications last fall.
Levy said the ad/PR conglomerate paid €644.4 million to buy back 18M Publicis shares from Japan’s Dentsu during the quarter.