Publicis Says 2016 Will Be About Building Foundations For Growth

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Publicis Groupe has witnessed modest growth ahead in the last quarter after a difficult year. Publicis reported that its revenue for 2015 rose by 32.3 percent to USD 10 billion, while net income jumped 25.1 percent to just over USD 1 billion on the strength of North American and digital operations in the fourth quarter. The holding company owns and operates advertising shops such as Saatchi & Saatchi, BBH and PR networks MSLGroup among others.

The group announced an increase in overall revenue in Q4 by 27.2 percent as compared to USD 3.1 billion in the same quarter in 2014. And it grew by 32.3 percent across the year to USD 10.8 billion. Publicis credited the growth in its revenue to its rise in digital activities and very good dynamics in North America, where the organic growth was reported to be 6.3 percent. Publicis also saw a revenue growth of 5.1 percent in Asia Pacific.

Despite enjoying success in North America and Asia Pacific, Publicis reported a decline in organic growth across Europe, Latin America and in the MEA region. The organic growth for Europe fell by 1.7 percent, which Publicis believes to be due to the terrorist attacks that took place in France last November that led to a stop on advertising investments.

The annual organic growth also dipped in UK by 4.3 percent. Publicis cited the change of management at Publicis Worldwide UK and reorganization of its digital agency ‘Razorfish’ to be the reason for the dip.

Maurice Levy, Publicis Groupe
Maurice Levy, Publicis Groupe

Maurice Lévy, Chairman and CEO, Publicis, described the year 2015 as a ‘particularly busy year’. “Under the circumstances, the group’s performance was particularly good, in part thanks to the boost provided by acquisitions and exchange rates,” he commented. Mr Lévy is of the opinion that the year has turned out to be better than expected as the organic growth in digital activities increased for the last quarter to 8.8 percent.

Publicis expects 2016 to be a ‘year of transition’, where it anticipates modest organic growth. The company has said that its focus will be on building foundations that will allow it to succeed in 2017. Despite this, Publicis Group expects all its financial indicators to increase in 2016.

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