 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 registered 23.8 percent Q3 growth to $48.8M, with organic growth contributing 4.5 percent and the balance driven by merger & acquisition activity.
Publicis Groupe reported 3.1 percent in Q3 growth to $4B, sparked by a 3.6 percent jump North America, its biggest market.
WPP suffered a 10.2 percent drop in 1H revenues to $6.7B and a 47.8 percent plunge in operating profit to $297M.
Interpublic reported Q2 net revenues dropped 6.6 percent to $2.2B and operating income tumbled 23.4 percent to $243.7M. 
WPP has adopted a gloomier profit and sales forecast due to a deteriorating Q2 financial performance triggered by weak client spending as companies cope with the challenging economic backdrop.
