Publicis posted solid performance in 2020 thanks to our transformation: Arthur Sadoun

Publicis Groupe has outperformed the industry average in 2020 by reporting net revenue broadly flat at -0.9%, while organic growth stood at -6.3% for the year. Organic growth in Q4 was ahead of expectations at -3.9%. Operating margin rate was reported at 16.0%.

Commenting on the group’s performance in 2020, Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO, Publicis Groupe, said, “In the tough context of 2020, Publicis posted solid performance thanks to our transformation. Our long-term investment in data and technology, our country model, and our platform Marcel, have enabled us to stay strong by containing our revenue decline and maintaining best-in-class financials.”

The growth is particularly visible in the US, where Epsilon delivered growth of 5.5% in Q4, enabling Publicis’ most important country to be slightly positive. This was also the case for Publicis Sapient.

Publicis Groupe gained market share by growing with its top 200 clients by 1.8%, and recorded a continued new business momentum with wins like Kraft-Heinz, Reckitt Benckiser, Pfizer, Visa, L’Oréal in China, TikTok and Sephora.

Publicis Groupe also announced repayment of salary sacrifice. Sadoun said, “When we saw at the beginning of the crisis how devastating the pandemic could be, we quickly acted to redefine our plans. This included a voluntary pay cut by around 6,000 of our managers, and a new set of objectives for the rest of the year. Thanks to the collective and extraordinary performance of our people in these difficult times, we have been able to post results that are above industry averages, allowing us to repay the salary sacrifice and set aside a higher bonus pool to fairly reward and recognise our teams.”

At the same time while noting that the world will continue to be marked by the social and the economic effects of the pandemic for some time, Sadoun expressed the confidence that Publicis Groupe will emerge from this crisis as a stronger company.