Publicis Groupe net revenue up 10.4% in India

Publicis Groupe’s net revenue for the full year 2019 was 9,800 million euros, compared with 8,969 million euros in 2018, i.e. a 9.3% increase. At constant exchange rates, growth was 5.9% and the actual impact of exchange rate variations was positive at 3.1% or 282 million euro. Acquisitions (net of disposals) contributed 760 million euros to net revenue in 2019, reflecting the contribution of Epsilon from July 2019, and of other acquisitions such as Xebia, Soft Computing and Rauxa, partially offset by the disposals of PHS at the end of January 2019 and of Proximedia at the end of April 2019.

Organic growth is -2.3% in 2019. This performance is in line with the expectations shared in October. It reflects three well-identified negative factors. Firstly, an impact of attrition of around 200 basis points; secondly, the effect of contract losses in media in 2018; and thirdly, the repositioning of Publicis Sapient in the United States. These negative effects were partially offset by the continued very good performance of Strategic Game Changers, which saw its net revenue grow by 18%, and by the positive effect of budget gains in 2019.

Publicis Groupe's net revenue in Q4 2019 was 2,871 million euros compared to 2,492 million euros in Q4 2018, up by 15.2%. Growth at constant exchange rate was 12.9%. Exchange rate variations had a positive impact of 52 million euros (+2.1%). The acquisitions (net of disposals) contributed 441 million euros to net revenue in Q4 2019, reflecting the contribution of Epsilon from July 2019, and other acquisitions such as Xebia, Soft Computing and Rauxa, partially offset by the disposals of PHS at the end of January 2019 and of Proximedia at the end of April 2019.

Organic growth was -4.5% in Q4 2019. This performance is in line with the indications shared in October. It highlights the impact of three well-identified negative factors. Firstly, attrition, i.e. budget cuts by some clients in traditional advertising, continued. Second, the performance of our media business reflected, as expected, the fact that our budget gains have not fully offset the losses incurred since the third quarter of 2018. Finally, the repositioning of Publicis Sapient in the United States, initiated by the Groupe in 2019, is having a negative impact on short-term growth.

As announced at the beginning of the year, Publicis Sapient in the United States is repositioning around business transformation through industry verticals. This reflects the structure already in place for Publicis Sapient's international activities. To do this, several projects have been carried out simultaneously: part of the digital marketing activity is being transferred to our communication activities; Publicis Sapient in the United States is evolving from digital project-based assignments to longer-term digital transformation ones; the business is thus gradually refocusing on activities generating long-term growth.

Europe reported a growth of 0.3%. Excluding the impact of acquisitions and exchange rates, organic growth was -2.0%. The performance compares to high bases, particularly in the second half of the year, in the three main countries of the region. France and the United Kingdom posted slightly negative organic growth of -0.8% and -0.2% respectively. Net revenue in Germany declined -10.0% organically, primarily impacted by media losses in 2018.

Net revenue in North America is up 15.0% from 2018, including the positive impact of the Epsilon acquisition in the last six months of the year. On an organic basis, the region posted a decline in net revenue of -3.5% in 2019. The negative factors explained above apply particularly to the United States, which saw negative growth of -4.1% over the year. Canada posted organic net revenue growth of 8.3%.

Asia Pacific net revenue was up 8.9% on a reported basis and 0.8% on an organic basis. Australia recorded a decline of -7.0% in net revenue on an organic basis, China was down -1.8%, while Singapore and India recorded double-digit growth (16.5% and 10.4% respectively).

Net revenue in Latin America was down -6.1%, on a reported basis. On an organic basis, net revenue was down -4.9% for the year, despite a positive fourth quarter. This is primarily impacted by high comparables and the economic situation in some countries. Business in Brazil was down -10.7% organically over the year. Mexico saw its net revenue fall -6.1% over the year on an organic basis.

Net revenue in the Middle East and Africa region rose by 14.6% due to the impact of the rise in the euro and to an increase in organic growth of 10.0%, driven by the United Arab Emirates (16.6%).

2019 was a transition year when we completed our model:

Speaking on the development, Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe said, "We acquired and integrated Epsilon. We changed Publicis Sapient's management and repositioned its operations around business transformation through industry verticals. We put in place a country model to foster cross-fertilization across our expertise in creativity, media, data and technology. And while we were implementing our model, we continued to promote a new generation of leaders in strategic positions, in our most iconic brands, our biggest countries and for our top clients."

He said, "All of these necessary changes, combined with the effects of our transition, had a negative impact on our organic growth in 2019. But our model is already delivering concrete results that make us confident for the future. Our reported growth of +9.3% with Epsilon reflects the shift in our revenue profile. We are posting strong financials, increasing our operating margin (1) by +11.6% and Headline diluted EPS (2) by +8.2% while investing an additional c.100 million euros in our talents. Our model and our go-to-market demonstrate their attractiveness, as illustrated by the new business ranking: for the second year in a row, we are number one in the new business league tables," Sadoun continued.

"Now that we have completed our transformation in terms of assets and organization, we are in position to deliver what our clients really need to thrive in a world increasingly dominated by the platforms, as we demonstrated in our recent wins with Disney and Novartis".

"In 2020 our priority is to deliver our organic growth recovery plan by progressively returning to growth in our traditional activities; preparing our future revenue streams with Epsilon and Publicis Sapient, and of course, continuing to invest in talents and learning & development to strengthen our offer. We have taken great steps forward in our transformation journey. We are clear on the steps ahead of us and focused on execution. I would like to thank everyone at Publicis Groupe for their efforts and all of our clients for their trust," he added.