PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French advertising company Publicis Groupe (PGPEF.PK, PUBGY.PK) Thursday reported that third-quarter net revenue fell 9.1 percent to 2.34 billion euros from 2.58 billion euros a year ago.
Organic revenue was down 5.6 percent. The company noted that most of Groupe's regions recorded sequential improvement this quarter compared to the second quarter, although remaining negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic crisis.
Europe net revenue declined 9.7 percent from last year, and net revenue in North America was down 6.9 percent.
The company said it reported solid US performance with third-quarter organic revenue down 2.4 percent, again better than market forecasts at down 7 percent, in a region that now represents 60 percent of the company's business.
The company noted that its performance with the top 200 clients is slightly positive for the first 9 months of the year.
Looking ahead, Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, stated that with the current resurgence of the pandemic and the restrictions imposed,it has to be cautious about fourth quarter, which might be impacted further and come below third quarter.
Sadoun said, 'We are therefore confident in delivering our cost reduction plan, and as a result an operating margin rate slightly ahead of current analyst consensus of 14.3 percent for 2020.'
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX