For its third quarter, Publicis Groupe, the French holding company reported better-than-expected financial results.
The company’s Q3 organic growth stood at 5.3 percent due to strong revenue mix and new business tailwind.
All of its regions posted positive organic growth, with the US at 3.2 percent, Europe at 10.7 percent and APAC at 3.8 percent.
Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Arthur Sadoun in a press statement, explained the company’s performance, “Our media capabilities, which continued to gain market share, and Epsilon’s data offer were the main drivers of this performance, achieving high single-digit and double-digit growth respectively. At a moment when the comparable consulting firms experienced project delays, Publicis Sapient nonetheless continued to grow, and Creative confirmed its resilience once again, in spite of industry-wide cuts to classic advertising activities.”
“Looking at our journey since the pandemic, the acceleration of our growth amid persistent macroeconomic challenges is clearly visible, with Q3 at 22 percent compared to 2019 levels, coming after 20 percent in Q2 and 18 percent in Q1,” he added.
Talking about the network’s growth map, he further said, “This gives us the confidence to further upgrade our 2023 guidance, even in a context of rising global socio-economic tensions. We now expect to deliver 5.5 percent to 6 percent organic growth for the full year, while upgrading our operating margin to 18 percent and free cash flow at close to 1.7 billion euros.”
Earlier this month, Sadoun announced the company’s return-to-office plan, which will be effective from January, 1, 2024. As per the new mandate, the network’s employees are expected to work in the office three days a week and be present every Monday.
“For the rest of the year, we intend to lead what we believe to be the two major priorities for our industry today: bringing our teams back together in person, and accelerating the AI-ification of our operations, which we are uniquely able to do through Publicis Sapient,” he concluded.
Read more: Publicis makes changes to its work-from-home policy