Indiantelevision.com Team

(26 June 2006 3:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Publicis Groupe which claims to be the world's fourth largest communications group, as well as world's second largest media counsel and buying group has announced that reveneus for the first half of this year were 2,122 million euros compared to 1,932 million euros in the same period for 2005. That represented a rise of 10 per cent.

Publicis chairman and CEO Maurice Levy says, "The first half 2006 results were fully in line with the goals we had set for ourselves, with organic growth close to seven per cent, margins rising once again, and average debt down. Our growth prospects remain very satisfactory and we stand by our full-year targets. I am also satisfied with the deployment of our plans for rationalising structures and holding down costs. We also confirm our objective of achieving an operating margin of 16.7 per cent in 2008. In addition, free cash flow should exceed the 400 million euros figure initially projected.

"Another reason for satisfaction comes from the fact that over the past few years, Publicis Groupe has demonstrated an increasing resistance to macroeconomic variations. Last but not least, we have just launched a new program that takes a closer look at advertisers' needs and our own structures, which should give us a fresh lead on our competitors."

In Asia, business remained robust despite a marked slowdown in South Korea. In Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, strong growth seen at the beginning of the year continued in the second quarter. Operations in Europe forged ahead in the second quarter, driven by new accounts and, to a lesser extent, the Football World Cup, while in North America buoyant trends observed in the first quarter continued.

In Europe, Publicis garnered revenues of 820 million euros representing an organic growth of 4.8 per cent. In the US it managed to earn 922 million euros an organic growth of 6.6 per cent. In the Asia-Pacific region it earned revenues of 224 million euros an organis growth of 7.6 per cent. In Latin America, it earned 104 million euros which meant an organic growth of 11.1 per cent.