Thursday, October 18, 2018
Arthur Sadoun |
Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun wants to unload the volatile Publicis Health Solutions (contract sales group) to enable the French ad/PR combine to focus exclusively on its creative and technology offerings.
Reporting flat third-quarter revenues of $2.5B, Sadoun said organic growth moved ahead at a “very satisfactory." 2.2 percent clip, excluding PHS. Reported organic growth was 1.3 percent.
Europe grew 4.2 percent organically during Q3, while North America rose 1.0 percent, after factoring out PHS.
Marriott, Campbell’s Soup, Daimler and Carrefour sparked the organic growth upswing.
Publicis picked up key client wins during Q3 including Cathay Pacific globally, Western Union’s worldwide creative, Nestle media in Southeast Asia, Government of Singapore, GSK global media and Mondelez International media in several markets.
Following up on the PHS divestment, Sadoun said Publicis has launched a review of its asset portfolio to optimize the allocation of resources and "help us scale our strategic game changers."
He has targeted a four percent annual growth rate by 2020.