Publicis Groupe: First Quarter 2023 Revenue

• Q1 2023 reported net revenue up 10%
• Organic growth of +7.1% above expectations after +10.5% in Q1 last year:
  • Epsilon and Publicis Sapient both significantly accretive at +10% and +11% organic
  • Continued strong performance in the U.S. at +5.8% organic
  • Acceleration in Europe to +12.3% organic
  • China posting solid numbers at +3.7% organic growth
• Continued New Business dynamics in Q1 after topping industry rankings 4 times in 5 years
• 2023 guidance confirmed despite rising macroeconomic uncertainties, organic growth now expected to reach the top half of the 3 to 5% range

Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe:

“After two years of double digit growth, we posted a strong start to 2023.

In Q1, our net revenue was up +10% again on a reported basis. Organic growth was +7.1%, demonstrating once more the ability of our differentiated model to gain market share. The U.S. continued their strong performance with +5.8% organic growth, Europe accelerated to +12.3% and China posted a solid +3.7% despite the health situation in the country.

Since 2019, we’ve expanded our first quarter net revenue by +45% on a reported basis, of which +18% organically. Putting this performance in perspective, the Groupe has actually changed dimension in recent years, rising to the number 2 position in the industry in terms of revenue.

Our differentiated revenue mix, with one third in data and tech, allowed us to grow faster than both the industry and the global economy in the last three years. This continued to be the case in Q1 this year, with Epsilon & Publicis Sapient again accretive to our growth at +10% and +11% organic respectively. It was also visible in our Media and Creative activities, that were very solid in the quarter.

Not only do those capabilities at scale lead us to outpace competition, but they also set us apart in the way we go to market. With Epsilon’s real time data and Publicis Sapient’s technology embedded in our Creative and Media offerings, our New Business momentum continued in Q1 after topping the leagues 4 times in the last 5 years, with recent wins like Adobe or Walgreens Media, Sonepar Business Transformation, Mondelez Production and Dunkin US Creative.

It is this differentiated revenue mix, our go-to-market and our platform organization, allowing us to invest in growth while delivering industry-high margins, which drive our confidence to achieve all of our 2023 KPIs guidance.

Actually, despite an increasingly challenging macroeconomic environment, we now anticipate that organic growth for the year will come in at the top half of our +3% to +5% guidance, while delivering 17.5% to 18% operating margin and circa 1.6 billion Euros in free cash flow.

I would like to thank our teams for their continued efforts and our clients for their trust.”