Publicis Groupe reports stronger than expected Q2 revenue organic growth

Publicis Groupe has achieved a very strong first half of the year, with net revenue organic growth at +5.4% and +7.4% growth on a like-for-like revenue basis. The group continued to win market share, with Q2 net revenue organic growth accelerating to +5.6%, above expectations and 400bps ahead of the ad industry.

Publicis Groupe delivwred solid performance across all regions in Q2:

• Continued momentum in the US at +5.3%
• Robust Europe at +4.2% on top of a high comparable
• Strong APAC at +7.7%, with China accelerating to +10.5%

Operating margin rate at record H1 level of 17.3%, was reported, including AI investment.

Speaking about the performance, Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, remarked, “Despite a backdrop of ongoing macro-economic pressures, not only did our H1 performance demonstrate that our model is strong. It also showed that our outperformance versus our peers is sustainable, with our growth rate close to doubling that of our competitors since 2019. As a result, we are confident in our ability to accelerate further in H2. We are raising our net revenue organic growth guidance and now expect to de liver between +5-+6%. We will maintain our best-in-class financial ratios while continuing to make material investments in our talent and AI strategy.”

He further said, “We have a winning go-to market, which has put us at the head of the new business rankings for the past five years. We have taken the leadership of personalization at scale, demonstrated by our combined Data and Media offering’s double-digit growth this quarter, for the third year in a row. And thanks to Publicis Sapient, we are uniquely positioned to partner with our clients in their AI-led transformation.”