 Arthur Sadoun |
Publicis Groupe today reported an 8.2 percent plunge in H1 revenues to $4.9B due, in part, to a weak performance of its volatile Publicis Health Solutions contract sales organization, which visits doctors to sell products.
CEO Arthur Sadoun referred to “one specific operational bump” with PHS in North America which resulted in a $35M drop in revenues during the half.
Noting that Publicis is the only global PR/ad firm with a contract sales force capability, Sadoun remains committed to the business, which will require investing in health-related consulting, data and technology to provide clients with “cutting-edge expertise for their digital transformation.”
Organic growth dipped 0.4 percent during the half and 2.1 percent in Q2. Publicis reported a 2.3 percent drop to $1.4B in Q2 North American organic growth, while Europe slipped 3.6 percent to $744.
Sadoun expects Publicis to rebound during the second half, though he warns “it will not be an easy journey as we must transform ourselves while facing some strong market headwinds."
Public Policy Holding Company grew 27.5 percent to $50.1M during Q1, powered by the accelerating contribution from recent acquisitions and a 5.1 percent hike in organic revenues across its three operating segments.
Institutional Shareholder Services advises investors to vote "no" on a compensation package for WPP chief Cindy Rose at the May 8 annual meeting.
FTI Consulting chalked up a 9.5 percent rise in Q1 revenues to $983.3M, powered by gains in its PR, corporate finance and technology segments.
Stagwell reports 4 percent growth in Q1 net revenues to $585M and a record $141M in net new business wins.
WPP reported a 6.7 percent drop to $3.1B in Q1 like-like revenues less pass-through costs. CEO Cindy Rose says 'it will take time to outpace historical losses."
