Publicis Groupe continues growth, with ‘stronger than expected’ Q3 financial results
Publicis Groupe has delivered its 2021 Q3 financial results, with “strong organic growth” according to the French holding company, with a net revenue of €2.62 billion (A$4.1 billion) compared to €2.34 billion (A$3.66 billion) in Q3 2020.
Global CEO and chairman, Arthur Sadoun said: “The strength of our model not only means we have fully recovered from the impact of the pandemic, but it has also allowed us in Q3 to grow 5% versus 2019. On a two-year basis, Asia is at +2%, Europe has returned to pre-pandemic levels and the US is accelerating to +8%.”
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In the reporting period, group-wide organic growth was up 11.2%, in Asia Pacific 12.5%, the US was up 10.9%, and Europe 10%. The year-on-year rise of net revenue totalled 11.9%.
“Today, all of this means that we are in a position to upgrade our full year guidance for all our KPIs a second time this year,” said Sadoun. “This is the case for organic growth, that we now anticipate at +8.5-9% from +7%.
“We are also revising our operating margin upwards, to slightly above 17%, while continuing to invest in future growth and talent. And at close to 1.3 billion Euros, our free cash flow is expected at the high end of our previous objective. Overall, 18 months after the beginning of the pandemic, we are emerging as a stronger group.”
This sees a continuation of growth across the year, with net revenue for Q2 2021 reported in July as €2.53 billion (A$4.04 billion), equating to a growth of 10.7% from Q1 2021 which was €2.29 billion (A$3.65 billion).
Total revenue in APAC was €266 million (A$415.7 million) in Q3, and year-to-date totals €736 (A$1.15 billion) with organic growth up 4% on 2019 figures for the first nine months.
Automotive has proved to be Publicis’ highest sector of revenue over the first nine months of the year, with 16%, closely followed by the financial sector at 15%.
Net financial debt amounted to €1.59 billion (A$2.48 billion) at end of September 2021.
Publicis Groupe currently trades at €58.9 (A$91.4) and has a market capitalisation of €14.8 billion (A$23.1) as of 15 October 2021.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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