By Greg Hazley
Publicis today reported a 2.7% rise in second quarter revenue to 1.4B euros ($2B) as organic growth ticked up 7.6% amid a Q2 slowdown in the U.S. offset by developing countries.
North American revenue slid 5.9% to 639M euros ($917M), although organic growth in the region was up 5.3%, buoyed by media growth and healthcare business.
"Second-quarter growth was very strong in virtually all countries and regions around the world despite a slowdown observed in the USA which was offset by growth in developing countries," said CEO Maurice Levy. "Despite a moderate slowdown in the second quarter, the USA achieved organic growth of 7.2% driven by solid media growth and the sizeable contribution of the healthcare sector."
Publicis said profit for the first half is up 8.5% over 2010 at 231M euro. Organic growth for its PR operation rose five percent.
Levy noted the French conglomerate’s first half was “rich in acquisitions” to fuel growth. Deals included digital consultancies Rosetta and Big Fuel, as well as China PR giant Genedigi.
“Clearly, in order to accelerate our profitable development, we will need to give priority to investment and to talent, particularly after two years of a salary and hiring freeze,” he said.
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