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Publicis Groupe’s Board of Directors met on February 3, 2025, under the chairmanship of Arthur Sadoun to approve the annual accounts for 2024.

KEY FIGURES

NET REVENUE IN FY 2024

Publicis Groupe’s net revenue for the full year 2024 was 13,965 million euros, up +6.6% compared to 13,099 million euros in 2023. Exchange rate variations over the period had a negative impact of 39 million euros and acquisitions (net of disposals) had a positive impact of 152 million euros. Organic growth reached +5.8%.

Breakdown of FY 2024 net revenue by sector

* Miscellaneous and other activities (outdoor media, The Drugstore etc.)

Breakdown of FY 2024 net revenue by region

In North America, net revenue was up +5.1% organically in 2024. The region grew +6.6% on a reported basis, which includes a slight negative impact of the U.S. dollar to euro exchange rate and the contribution of acquisitions completed over the year. The U.S., the Groupe’s largest geography and where its model is the most advanced, posted a solid +4.9% organically, fueled by both strong Connected Media and Intelligent Creativity.

Net revenue in Europe grew +5.4% on an organic basis and +6.7% on a reported basis, on top of three years at double-digit organic growth. It includes +1.1% organic growth in the U.K., +4.2% in France, +3.8% in Germany and +18.8% in Central & Eastern Europe.

Asia Pacific saw its net revenue grow by +6.3% organically and +5.4% on a reported basis. China posted +6.4% organic growth despite difficult macroeconomic conditions throughout the year.

The Middle East & Africa region was up +7.4% organically and +6.8% on a reported basis.

In Latin America, organic growth was at +22.9% and reported growth at +9.7%.

NET REVENUE IN Q4 2024

Publicis Groupe's net revenue in Q4 2024 was 3,854 million euros compared to 3,540 million euros in Q4 2023, up +8.9%. Exchange rate variation had a positive impact of 13 million euros. Acquisitions (net of disposals) accounted for an increase in net revenue of 76 million euros respectively. Organic growth reached +6.3%.

Breakdown of Q4 2024 net revenue by region

North America net revenue was up +5.6% organically on the quarter. Reported growth was at +9.6% taking into account a positive impact of the U.S. dollar to euro exchange rate and the contribution of acquisitions completed over the last 12 months. The U.S. posted +5.2% organic growth driven by mid-single-digit growth of both Connected Media and Intelligent Creativity. Publicis Sapient showed sequential improvement returning to positive territory on the quarter.

Europe net revenue was up +6.5% on an organic basis and +8.5% on a reported basis. The U.K. posted a strong +7.2% organic growth with double-digit growth of Connected Media and high-single-digit growth of Intelligent Creativity, while Publicis Sapient remained affected by delays in digital business transformation projects. France posted slight organic decline facing a high comparable base in Q4 2023. Germany was broadly stable and Central & Eastern Europe continued to grow strongly, posting +17.9% on the quarter on top of +20.3% in Q4 2023, mainly fueled by Poland.

Net revenue in Asia Pacific grew +5.0% organically and +6.6% on a reported basis. South-East Asia was up by a high-single digit, after double-digit growth in Q4 2023, mainly driven by India, the Philippines and Malaysia. Australia and New Zealand posted mid-single-digit growth together on the quarter.

Net revenue in the Middle East & Africa region was up +3.4% organically and +4.7% on a reported basis, driven primarily by double-digit growth of Intelligent Creativity.

In Latin America, net revenue was up +30.3% organically led by Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, as well as Argentina, partly due to inflation. Reported growth was +7.5% due to the depreciation of the Argentinian peso relative to the euro.

ANALYSIS OF FY 2024 KEY FIGURES

Income Statement

EBITDA amounted to 3,014 million euros in 2024, compared to 2,845 million euros in 2023, up 5.9%. EBITDA was 21.6% as a percentage of net revenue.

Personnel costs totaled 9,224 million euros in 2024, up by 8.3% from 8,514 million euros in 2023. As a percentage of net revenue, the personnel expenses represented 66.1% in 2024, compared to 65.0% in 2023. Fixed personnel costs were 8,182 million euros representing 58.6% of net revenue, versus 57.5% in 2023. This increase is because of efforts to reinforce our talent pool to accelerate growth, as well as investments in AI. The cost of freelancers increased by 38 million euros in 2024, representing 370 million euros. Restructuring costs reached 136 million euros representing 1% of net revenue.

Non-personnel costs amounted to 2,222 million euros in 2024, stable compared to 2023. This represented 15.9% of net revenue, versus 17.0% in 2023. They comprised:

• Other operating expenses (excluding pass-through costs, depreciation & amortization) amounted to 1,727 million euros, compared to 1,740 million euros in 2023. This represented 12.4% of net revenue in 2024, compared to 13.3% in 2023.

• Depreciation and amortization expense was 495 million euros in 2024, versus 482 million euros in 2023, an increase of 13 million euros.

The operating margin amounted to 2,519 million euros, up +6.6% compared to 2023. This represents a margin rate of 18.0%, which is at the same record level as 2023.

Operating margin rates by region were 19.1% in North America, 17.4% in Europe, 19.9% in Asia-Pacific, 7.8% in Latin America and 4.9% in the Middle East and Africa region.

Amortization of intangibles arising from acquisitions totaled 234 million euros in 2024, down 34 million euros from 268 million euros in 2023, mainly due to the end of amortization of certain Epsilon technologies.

Impairment losses amounted to euro 86 million and included 2 components: primarily, the impact of real estate optimization for 71 million euros, as well as impairment losses on intangible assets for 15 million euros. In 2023, the amount of total impairment losses was 153 million euros, of which 147 million euros related to the real estate optimization and 6 million euros related to the impairment losses on intangible assets.

In addition, net non-current income was 15 million euros in 2024, which mostly reflects the income of 14 million euros generated by the transfer of exclusive rights to the Groupe's 49%-owned associate Unlimitail, to use CitrusAd and Epsilon technologies. In 2023, non-current income amounted to a negative 202 million euros, largely reflecting a 203 million euros net charge related to the Rosetta settlement.

Operating income totaled 2,214 million euros in 2024, after 1,740 million euros in 2023.

The financial result excluding earn-out reevaluation, comprising the cost of net financial debt and other financial charges and income, was a charge of 29 million euros, compared to a charge of 21 million euros in 2023.

• The cost of net financial debt was an income of 52 million euros in 2024, compared to an income of 78 million euros in 2023. It included 96 million euros of interest largely related to Epsilon’s acquisition debt (99 million euros in 2023), partly mitigated by financial income of 147 million euros, decreasing from 178 million euros in 2023.

• Other financial income and expenses were a charge of 81 million euros in 2024, notably composed of 84 million euros interest on lease liabilities and a 10 million income from the fair value remeasurement of financial assets. In 2023, other financial income and expenses were a charge of 99 million euros, notably composed by 79 million euros interest on lease liabilities and 1 million euros charge from the fair value remeasurement of Mutual Funds.

The revaluation of earn-out payments amounted to an income of 35 million euros, compared to an income of 12 million euros in 2023.

The income tax charge was 549 million euros in 2024, corresponding to an effective tax rate of 24.9%. This compared to 415 million euros in 2023, corresponding to an effective tax rate of 24.1%.

The share in profit of associates was a charge of 2 million euros, versus an income of 6 million euros in 2023.

The net income attributable to non-controlling interests was a 9 million euros income in 2024, after 10 million euros income in 2023.

Overall, net income attributable to the Groupe was 1,660 million euros in 2024, an increase of 26.5% compared to 1,312 million euros in 2023.

The Groupe’s earnings per share was 6.62 euros in 2024, an increase of 26.6% compared to 5.23 euros in 2023.

Free cash flow

The Groupe’s free cash flow, before change in working capital requirements, was 1,838 million euros. In 2023, it included a negative net impact of 148 million euros for the Rosetta settlement.

Financial interests were an income of 69 million euros in 2024, compared to an income of 93 million euros in 2023, due to lower remuneration of the cash balances.

Repayment of lease liabilities and related interests amounted to 453 million euros in 2024, up 30 million euros after 423 million euros in 2023, related to the Groupe’s Return to the Office policy.

Net investments in fixed assets amounted to 235 million euros, increasing by 57 million euros compared to 178 million euros in 2023, reflecting the increased investments in the Groupe’s platforms and cloud infrastructure, company-wide ERP deployment, as well as expenses related to new leases.

Tax paid amounted to 655 million euros in 2024, down 14 million euros compared to 669 million euros in 2023. In January 2023, the Groupe made an additional tax payment of 110 million euros related to the 2022 fiscal year, reflecting the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in the United States partly mitigated by the deduction of the amounts paid in relation to the Rosetta settlement. This was largely offset by an increase in tax paid in 2024, due to higher taxable earnings, as well as adjustments to the tax charge paid in 2023 and to withholding taxes.

Net debt

The Groupe reported a net cash position of 775 million euros as of December 31, 2024, compared to a 909 million euros net cash position as of December 31, 2023. The Groupe's average net debt in 2024 amounted to 585 million euros, up from 432 million euros in 2023.

ACQUISITIONS

On January 18, 2024, Publicis Groupe Singapore announced the acquisition of AKA Asia, one of Singapore's leading integrated communications agencies. Founded in 2009, AKA expands and diversifies Publicis Groupe's capabilities in the region, while bolstering the Groupe's strategic communications, PR and influence offering. AKA has joined the Groupe's regional Influence practice.

On March 12, 2024, Publicis Sapient announced the acquisition of Spinnaker SCA, a leading supply chain services firm that provides end-to-end supply chain strategy, planning and execution consulting services. Founded in 2002 and based in Boulder in the U.S., Spinnaker SCA has become part of Publicis Sapient and brings core capabilities and skill sets including advanced AI and ML analytics, supply chain digital twins, warehouse and transportation management and expanded digital services. Spinnaker SCA further enables Publicis Sapient to offer solutions for clients to optimize their agile supply chains as part of their digital business transformation.

On June 5, 2024, Publicis Groupe in France announced the acquisition of Downtown Paris, a creation and production house specialized in leading brands in the beauty and luxury business. Founded in 2016, the agency has strengthened the production vertical of Publicis France and is working with the Groupe's various luxury entities.

On July 25, 2024, Publicis Groupe announced the acquisition of Influential, the world’s preeminent influencer marketing company and platform, creating the world’s leading influencer marketing solution. Influential’s proprietary AI-powered technology platform with over 100 billion data points, coupled with its network of over 3.5 million creators, including access to and data on 90% of global influencers with more than 1 million followers, currently serves more than 300 brands around the world. By combining these capabilities with the unique data and identity assets of Epsilon, Publicis Groupe is putting the leadership of ID-driven influencer marketing in the hands of all of its clients through a premium creator network, revolutionized influencer planning and maximized cross-channel outcomes.

On September 19, 2024, Publicis Groupe announced the acquisition of Mars United Commerce, the largest independent commerce marketing company in the world. With over 1,000 employees based in 14 hubs worldwide, Mars leverages its proprietary suite of commerce solutions to drive growth for more than 100 of the world’s top brands. The combined forces of Publicis Groupe and Mars has created the industry-leading connected commerce solution, allowing clients to influence the complete commerce journey for billions of global shoppers through an offering that begins with the industry’s deepest and richest database of consumer behavior and ends at the digital and physical shelves of the world’s leading online and offline retailers.

On December 13, 2024, Epsilon France announced the acquisition of Wibilong, a SaaS platform for building customer communities. Wibilong has been integrated into Epsilon France to strengthen its data-driven marketing offer and bring new solutions for measurable interactions between brands and their customers.

OUTLOOK

Despite ongoing macroeconomic challenges, the Groupe is confident in its ability to continue outperforming the industry on organic growth and financial ratios next year.

For the full year 2025, the Groupe aims to deliver +4% to +5% organic growth. The +4% is very solid and would be achieved in current market conditions. At the top end, the Groupe could deliver +5% if the macroeconomic context improves, which would result in less cuts in classic advertising and a resumption of capex client spend on digital business transformation projects.

In Q1 2025, the Groupe expects to deliver organic growth within the full year range.

The Groupe expects its industry-high financial ratios to reach new record highs in 2025, including:

• Operating margin rate at slightly above 18% as the Groupe maintains its pace of investment in its AI plan and continues to upgrade its talent bench.
  
  

• Free cash flow of between 1.9 to 2 billion euros⁴.
  
  

Disclaimer

Certain information contained in this document, other than historical information, may constitute forward-looking statements or unaudited financial forecasts. These forward-looking statements and forecasts are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These forward-looking statements and forecasts are presented at the date of this document and, other than as required by applicable law, Publicis Groupe does not assume any obligation to update them to reflect new information or events or for any other reason. Publicis Groupe urges you to carefully consider the risk factors that may affect its business, as set out in the Universal Registration Document filed with the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and which is available on the website of Publicis Groupe (www.publicisgroupe.com), including an unfavorable economic climate, a highly competitive industry, risks associated with the confidentiality of personal data, the Groupe’s business dependence on its management and employees, risks associated with mergers and acquisitions, risks of IT system failures and cybercrime, the possibility that our clients could seek to terminate their contracts with us on short notice, risks associated with the reorganization of the Groupe, risks of litigation, governmental, legal and arbitration proceedings, risks associated with the Groupe’s financial rating and exposure to liquidity risks.

About Publicis Groupe - The Power of One

Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40] is a global leader in communication. The Groupe is positioned at every step of the value chain, from consulting to execution, combining marketing transformation and digital business transformation. Publicis Groupe is a privileged partner in its clients’ transformation to enhance personalization at scale. The Groupe relies on ten expertise concentrated within four main activities: Communication, Media, Data and Technology. Through a unified and fluid organization, its clients have a facilitated access to all its expertise in every market. Present in over 100 countries, Publicis Groupe employs around 103,000 professionals.
www.publicisgroupe.com | X: @PublicisGroupe | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube | Viva la Difference!

Contacts Publicis Groupe

Appendices

Net revenue: organic growth calculation

(1)  Acquisitions (Spinnaker SCA, Practia, Mars United Commerce, Corra, Influential, AKA Asia, ARBH, Downtown Paris, 3dids, Dysrupt), net of disposals.

(2) EUR = USD 1.082 on average in 2024, stable vs. 2023
EUR = GBP 0.847 on average in 2024 vs. GBP 0.870 on average in 2023

Definitions

Net revenue or Revenue less pass-through costs: Pass-through costs mainly concern production and media activities, as well as various expenses incumbent on clients. These items that can be re-billed to clients do not come within the scope of assessment of operations, net revenue is a more relevant indicator to measure the operational performance of the Groupe’s activities.

Organic growth: Change in net revenue excluding the impact of acquisitions, disposals and currencies.

EBITDA (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization): Operating margin before depreciation and amortization.

Operating margin: Revenue after personnel costs, other operating expenses (excl. non-current income and expense), depreciation and amortization (excl. intangibles from acquisitions).

Operating margin rate: Operating margin as a percentage of net revenue.

Headline group net income: Net income attributable to the Groupe, adjusted for impairment losses, amortization of intangibles from acquisitions, main capital gains (or losses) on asset disposals, changes in the fair value of financial assets and earn-out re-evaluation.

EPS (Earnings per share): Group net income divided by average number of shares, not diluted.

EPS, diluted (Earnings per share, diluted): Group net income divided by average number of shares, diluted.

Headline EPS, diluted (Headline earnings per share, diluted): Headline group net income, divided by average number of shares, diluted.

Capex: Net acquisitions of property, plant, and equipments, and intangible assets, excluding financial investments and other financial assets.

Free cash flow: Net cash flow from operating activities, adjusted for interest paid and received, and repayment of lease liabilities.

Free cash flow before changes in working capital requirements: Free cash flow before changes in working capital requirements linked to operating activities.

Net debt (or financial net debt): total of long-term and short-term financial debt and related derivatives, excluding lease liabilities, net of cash and cash equivalents.

Average net debt: Last 12-month average of monthly net debt at end of each month.

Dividend pay-out: Dividend per share / headline EPS, diluted.

Consolidated income statement

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

Consolidated balance sheet

Consolidated statement of cash flows

Consolidated statement of changes in equity

Earnings per share (basic and diluted)

Headline earnings per share (basic and diluted)

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1 Free cash flow before change in working capital requirement.

2 Net income attributable to the Groupe, adjusted for impairment losses, amortization of intangibles from acquisitions, main capital gains (or losses) on asset disposals, changes in the fair value of financial assets and earn-out re-evaluation, divided by the average number of shares on a diluted basis.
3 To be proposed to the shareholders at the AGM of May 27, 2025.
4 Before change in working capital requirements.

  

Please find the press release here

 

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