We little Englanders may not like to admit it, but the evidence suggests that Publicis Groupe is growing faster than any of the other “Big Five” global groups. It would have been less irritating if the company’s 12.9% growth in revenue claimed for the first quarter of 2012 had been a one-off, but that is not so.
In first quarter of 2011, Publicis recorded revenue growth of 10.7%, beaten only by a reinvigorated Interpublic.
So what may we read into this?
First, in recent years Publicis has been buying big – companies like Digitas, Razorfish and Pixelpark, to mention just three.
Secondly, the euro crisis has been a boon to Publicis because revenues earned in any other currency will yield handsome gains on translation into its deflated domestic currency.
By contrast the mighty Omnicom has had to run much faster to keep up. Currency losses have been one of the reasons why its revenue growth has been held back. The US group recorded a mere 5% growth in the first quarter of this year, even worse than in the first quarter of 2011.
But numbers are not always as they appear. Publicis almost always seems to have a growth spurt in the first quarter, but by the end of the year its growth rate seems to decline. So it may be too soon to hand out any plaudits. Meanwhile we wait with bated breath for WPP’s first quarter’s figures. Typically revenue growth has been in the region of 7% in the past.
Bob Willott is editor of “Marketing Services Financial Intelligence”