Publicis Groupe reports 5.7% organic growth in Q4, 6.3% for 2023

Publicis Groupe reported 5.7% organic growth in Q4, as well as 6.3% organic growth for all of 2023.

The company said it is expecting 4% to 5% organic growth in 2024, citing continued strong performance across media, tech and creative.

The French multinational advertising and public relations company posted net revenue for 2023 was 13,099 million euros, up +4.2% compared to 12,572 million euros in 2022.

The company's EBITDA was up by 1.6% was 2852 million euros as compared to last year’s 2801 million euros.

The operating income was reduced by 1.5% from 1740 to 1767 million euros.

The Groupe’s strong and consistent performance in 2023 was reflected in its different capabilities. Media, which is one-third of the revenue, grew double-digit on top of double digits last year, benefitting from both market share gains and organic growth at existing clients.

On the one hand, despite a context of slowdown in digital business transformation experienced by comparable consulting firms, Publicis Sapient achieved a solid +3.2% organic growth on top of a very high comparable base of +19% in FY 2022.

On the other hand, Epsilon’s performance accelerated in the second half of the year, posting +9.6% organically in FY 2023, supported by a sustained high demand in first-party data management. Creative, the remaining third, showed its resilience with organic growth in the low-single digits for the year.

Data and tech activities, also another third of revenue, posted a very solid growth overall, while creative, the remaining third, showed its resilience with organic growth in the low-single digits for the year.

Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO, Publicis Groupe, said, “In a very challenging macroeconomic context, and after 6 years of transformation, Publicis definitely extracted

itself from the pack in 2023. Our +6.3% net revenue organic growth for the full year, coming after a stronger than expected end to the year at +5.7% in Q4, means that not only are we substantially outperforming our holding company peers, we are also growing twice as fast as the main IT consulting firms.”

He added. “What is true for organic growth is also true for our financial KPIs, be it on margin or on free cash flow.”

“With a reported revenue of close to 15 billion euros in 2023, up 35% versus 2019, Publicis has

firmly established itself as our industry’s second largest player and the first in terms of market capitalisation. Entering 2024, we feel confident in sustaining this momentum, just as we’ve done for the last four years with a +4.7% CAGR, twice the industry average. We anticipate delivering +4 to +5% organic growth while maintaining our historically high operating margin at 18%. When it comes to Q1, we expect to significantly outperform the industry with an organic growth within our full year guidance,” he said.

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