Indiantelevision.com Team

(28 July 2007 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Global advertising and communications services group Havas has reported an increase in organic growth of 5.4 per cent for the second quarter, giving organic
growth of 4.4 per cent for the first half of the year. For the first time in six years, quarterly growth was in excess of five per cent.

The appreciation of the euro against the US dollar had a negative impact on the group of euro 20 million in the first six months of the year by comparison with the same period in 2006.

First-half revenue in 2007 was nonetheless euro 729 million, an increase at constant exchange rates of 1.3 per cent compared to first half 2006. Net new business for the first half was euro 1,242 million, an increase of 38 per cent on first half 2006. Net new business for the second quarter was EUR697 million, an increase of 44 per cent on the quarterly average for 2006.

The first half was marked by account wins from the previous year, including: Reckitt Benckiser, Sanofi-Aventis, Pfizer, Exxon Mobil, Progressive Direct, SFR, Banco Santander, GSK and Barclays.

The main group's businesses contributed to organic growth in the second quarter, most notably healthcare communication and media consulting. Multimedia business also continued to progress. In the Asia Pacific it made euro 30 million in the first half of the year a growth of 9.7 per cent. Asia-Pacific continued to report dynamic growth in the second quarter for most countries, with growth for the region at 10.6 per cent. The first-half win of the Dell account will be a further boost to the region's growth.

France had revenues of euro 160 million a growth of 2.4 per cent in the first half of the year. Euro RSCG maintained a high rate of organic growth in the second quarter, particularly in traditional advertising, healthcare communication and CRM.

Sports and multimedia communication consulting also contributed to second-quarter growth. New agency H, whose creation was announced in June, started out in line
with group expectations.

In the UK it got revenues of euro 88 million a growth of 1.7 per cent. The UK returned to organic growth in the second quarter at 3.4 per cent. Traditional advertising via Euro RSCG came back strongly to make a significant contribution, as did the public and press relations businesses, financial communication and marketing services. Media and sports
communication consulting also made solid progress.

For the rest of Europe the firm has revenues of euro 164 million a growth of 8.7 per cent. Media consulting performed strongly, in particular Havas Media in Spain, Poland, Italy and Germany. The main countries of Southern Europe enjoyed double-digit growth, as did Ireland, Belgium and Denmark. Central European countries also contributed to the region's growth.

Havas in the US earned EUR 251 million a growth of 1.6 per cent. Its operations in the US enjoyed a return to organic growth in the second quarter at four per cent driven by healthcare and corporate communication, CRM and media consulting. Most of the traditional advertising agencies, particularly New York and Chicago, reported dynamic growth. Arnold Boston also recovered momentum in the second quarter.