Despite organic growth of 4.1% in the first quarter, Publicis Groupe warns of a slowdown for the second quarter of 2012.
This month the company will start to feel the loss of Starcom‘s portion of General Motors’ $3 billion global media buying and planning account, and many advertisers are waiting to schedule campaigns for later this year.
“There is a lot pushed back to the third quarter, partly because of the Olympics and also the scheduling of product launches,” chairman and CEO Maurice Levy told analysts in a conference call Thursday.
In particular, he said, Renault is introducing the Clio and its electric car, the Zoe, which he called “the beginning of a new strategy for Renault electric cars.”
The group, which includes Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi and ZenithOptimedia, grew by at least 5% in all markets in 2011 and a 12.9% revenue gain year-over-year, to $1.9 billion.
Levy, who turned 70 in February and delayed retiring to continue the search for Publicis’ next leader, didn’t address the succession issue, but it remains one of the company’s big questions.
Mature markets held steady. Though held back by Italy and Spain, Europe reached 3.6% growth and revenue of $541 million. The strongest growth in mature European markets was in the U.K. (8.6%), Germany (10.1%) and France (4.6%).
In North America, Publicis grew 3.3% and had revenue of $951 million. Levy said the the rise was relatively slow because “lots of clients are pushing their investment around the Olympics.” He added that there was a “sharp decrease in analog media at the beginning of the year.”
The BRIC markets grew 10%. Publicis is calling the next group of developing markets “MISSAT” (Mexico, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa and Turkey). Growth in those countries reached 11.8%.
Digital rose 15.6% and accounted for 33% of group revenue, versus 28% in the first quarter of 2011.
Publicis is still on the acquisition trail, focusing on small and mid-sized companies, including Germany’s largest independent digital communications agency, Pixelpark, and other shops in France (Mediagong), Russia (The Creative Factory), China (U-Link Business Solutions) and the Middle East (Flip Media).
Earlier this year Publicis bought back 18 million of its shares from Japanese ad giant Dentsu for a total of $850 million, ending an alliance that began in 2002.
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