Publicis revenues boosted after buying Sapient

Publicis Groupe has announced a year-on-year revenue boost of more than 30 per cent, which it says is partly due to its recent £2.3 billion deal to buy Sapient.

Publicis announced the deal to buy marketing network Sapient last November. The acquisition followed a number of other high-profile Publicis deals, including moves to buy branding and packaging consultancies Salterbaxter and Turner Duckworth.

Publicis has now recorded first quarter revenues of 2.1 billion euros (£1.5 billion), up from 1.6 billion euros (£1.1 billion) this time last year.

The group says that acquisitions contributed 274 million euros (£197 million) or 17. 2 per cent of revenues.

Publicis chairman and chief executive Maurice Lévy said the boost was due to both the positive impact of exchange rates and the Publicis deal, which he describes as “one of the important milestones of the Groupe’s transformation”.

The group says that digital has now become “its main activity” and is contributing 50.2 per cent of total revenue – with an aim to contribute 60 per cent by 2018.

Although Publicis says the UK market continues to be “vibrant”, it has recorded a -4.2 per cent revenue decline in the country. The group says this is due to “challenges” in several of its UK businesses.

Lévy says that he expects the second quarter of business to be “better than the first – albeit with modest growth”. He adds that he expects the group to be “considerably stronger” in the second half of the year.

Last month rival network WPP posted a record £1.45 billion profit for 2014, although its chief executive Martin Sorrell warned that the result of the upcoming UK General Election could damage growth.