Written by new-contact on Sep 5, 2011. Posted in General Interest

5% organic revenue growth for advertising giant Havas in first half of 2011

Paris-based Havas has announced organic revenue growth of 5.6% for the first half of 2011 over the same period in 2010. Overall there are mixed results. Organic growth slipped by 1.3% between Q1 and Q2 of this year, but North American growth for the company was 1.8% over the same period.

Group revenue has risen to USD1.1 billion in the first half of the year (from USD1.05 billion in 2010), but the company has still fallen behind Aegis Group and WPP Group. Havas has confirmed it’s looking for digital acquisitions, but may exercise caution for the moment to see whether another economic downturn helps it get more for its money.

Havas now has a strong balance sheet structure and is in a good position to capitalise on new growth opportunities.

David Jones, Havas

David Jones is Chief Executive Officer of Havas: “Havas now has a strong balance sheet structure and is in a good position to capitalise on new growth opportunities, but similarly is agile and entrepreneurial enough to respond to any changes driven by economic uncertainty.”

Havas’ biggest organic growth so far this year has been in Latin America, although the 24.6% figure was slightly lower than last year. Growth in Europe was the lowest at 1.3%, but an improvement on 2010’s 2.6% decline. In the first six months of this year, Havas has won business from major clients including Coca-Cola, Volvo, Pfizer, Bosch and Dell.