Publicis Groupe reports strong Q3 2024 results with 5.8% organic growth

Publicis Groupe has announced impressive financial results for the third quarter of 2024, showcasing an organic growth rate of 5.8%. This achievement marks a significant acceleration compared to the four-year CAGR of 5.1%, reinforcing Publicis’s strong position in the market despite ongoing macroeconomic challenges.

In a statement, Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, remarked, “Publicis had a very busy and very strong Q3, with organic growth of +5.8%. Once again, we were able to gain market share by capturing a disproportionate amount of client demand for personalization at scale, with our combined media and Epsilon activities growing at almost +10%.”

Publicis is not only gaining market share but is also upgrading its full-year organic growth guidance floor to +5.5%, an increase from the previous forecast of +5.0%. The company anticipates maintaining this positive momentum into the fourth quarter, confirming its position at the forefront of the industry.

The company’s robust performance extends to its net new business, where it holds the #1 ranking for both Q3 and year-to-date in 2024. Sadoun noted, “The strength of our model is also reflected in our net new business performance. Not only have we topped the new business league table since the beginning of 2024, but for the fifth year in a row, we also led the ranking in Q3, which was a very active quarter when it comes to pitch activity.”

In line with its ambitious growth strategy, Publicis has also accelerated its merger and acquisition efforts, highlighted by the recent $1 billion acquisition of Influential, the world’s largest influencer marketing platform, and Mars United Commerce, the leading independent commerce marketing company. Sadoun emphasized, “We are now clearly leading on three critical expertise for our clients: addressable media, creators, and commerce.”

Publicis is confident in its ability to outperform the market, with financial key performance indicators (KPIs) for 2024 confirming an operating margin rate of 18.0% and projected free cash flow between €1.8 billion and €1.9 billion. Sadoun stated, “We are in a position to upgrade our organic growth guidance for the full year. This means that we should outperform the industry by close to 400 basis points on average in 2024.”

He concluded, “Our ability to fuel this unique and breakthrough connected ecosystem with intelligent content through our creative and production capabilities, and power it with the technology of Publicis Sapient, makes us confident in our ability to continue to outperform the market in 2024 and in the years to come. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our clients for their trust, and our people for their outstanding efforts.”

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