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(Archyde.com) – Publicis is gaining market acclaim after raising its 2022 targets for the second time this year following a third-quarter performance that beat expectations.
The action of the communications group gained 3.64% to 57.6 euros on the Paris Stock Exchange, rising to its highest level since February.
The British competitor WPP, which will publish its quarterly results on October 26, took the opportunity to gain 4.11%, among the strongest increases in the Stoxx 60. For 2022, Publicis forecasts organic growth of 8.5%, against 6% at 7% previously, and an operating margin rate close to 18%, against 17.5% to 18% previously.
The French group had already revised its annual outlook upwards last July.
Over the July-September period, it recorded organic revenue growth of 10.3%, a performance that exceeded the consensus provided by the group at 5.1%.
Publicis saw its digital and data-driven businesses Sapient and Epsilon grow 18.1% and 13.9%, respectively, in the third quarter. “For the third consecutive quarter, our model allows us to generate double-digit growth by once again capturing the evolution of our customers’ spending on first-party data, digital media and digital business transformation activities”, said the chairman of the management board and general manager, Arthur Sadoun, in a press release.
JPMorgan analysts say Publicis’ “excellent” results show it is best in class.
Credit Suisse, which also hails organic growth in a note that is significantly better than expected, points out that each additional percentage of revenue growth will increase Ebita and earnings per share by around 1.2%. a conference call with reporters, Arthur Sadoun said it was still too early to give guidance for 2023 but the group had not seen a significant impact from cost reductions by customers. were cutting spending, the cuts would affect so-called traditional marketing budgets, he said. Publicis, which has increased salaries by an average of 7% since the start of the year, said it would give a one-time bonus a week’s salary to half of its employees, to help them cope with inflation in the run-up to the holiday season.
(Reporting by Federica Mileo and Valentine Baldassari in Gdansk, French version by Augustin Turpin, edited by Kate Entringer)