Publicis upgrades global forecast as it reports 5.8% growth in Q3

Publicis Groupe has revised its global forecast for 2024 upwards for a second time, driven by a "strong" new business strategy.

In its Q3 results reported today (17 October), the group now expects an organic growth of at least 5.5% for 2024, up from the 5% floor given in Q2. 

In Q3, Publicis Groupe organically grew net revenue by 5.8% to $3.70 billion (€3.42 billion), building on 5.6% growth in Q2 and 5.3% in Q1.

Arthur Sadoun, chair and chief executive of Publicis Groupe, said the main reason for the upgraded guidance was new business.

He said: “New business tailwinds continue to sustain the momentum and we are expecting for the full year that we are going to outperform the market by 400 basis points, roughly 4% on the average.”

On Tuesday (15 October) Omnicom reported 6.5% organic growth for Q3, but this figure is not directly comparable with Publicis' 5.8%, because Omnicom includes pass-through costs in its revenue figures.

Sadoun added: “We are at 5.8% – that represents 150 basis points [1.5%] ahead of our peers, and accelerating over four years, despite the difficulties that we have encountered in terms of microeconomics.”

European net revenue grew 4.9% on an organic basis, with accelerated growth in both France (7.3%) and Germany (7.6%), which both experienced double-digit growth in media.

While UK growth remained “broadly flat” due to a “strong” performance from creative and media being offset by a decline in the digital consulting arm, Publicis Sapient, which has faced challenges across all regions this year due to clients’ “wait and see” approach to business transformation, the Asia-Pacific region recorded 6.4% growth, with an impressive 12.4% organic growth in China.

North America grew by 4.7% organically in Q3, and the US posted 4% organic growth. 

Globally, the group experienced near-double digit growth for media and data arm Epsilon across all regions.

Sadoun added: “Once again, we were able to gain market share by capturing a disproportionate amount of client demand for personalisation at scale, with our combined media and Epsilon activities growing at almost 10%.”

In Q3 Publicis invested $1 billion to acquire influencer marketing platform Influential and commerce marketing company Mars United.

Addressing the acquisitions, Sadoun said: “We are now clearly leading on three critical expertise for our clients: addressable media, creators and commerce. 

“We are then able to directly link this expertise with Epsilon’s identities around the world to create a connected media ecosystem that we can build transparently within our clients’ owned environments.”