Holding company Publicis Groupe‘s full-year 2010 revenue increased 19.4% to $7.4 billion, compared with 2009. The company’s full-year net income also increased 30.5% to $715.6 million compared with the previous year. Publicis’ digital work accounted for 28% of total revenue last year, an increase of 5.6% compared with 2009.
Fourth-quarter revenue increased 23% to $2.1 billion compared with Q4 2009. North America, which generated $3.6 billion, a 24% percent increase compared with 2009’s $2.9 billion, was the company’s highest-grossing region.
“2010 looked nebulous [in 2009], but it turned out better than we anticipated,” said Maurice Lévy, chairman and CEO of Publicis, on an investor’s call. “It was an excellent business year, but it was not an easy year for our clients or for our staff…Things went better than expected. Growth was higher than expected. This was an outstanding performance.”
The Paris-based holding company owns and operates 1,178 agencies worldwide, including Digitas, Fallon and Leo Burnett.
Levy added that Publicis will invest towards “consolidating our two growth pillars: the digital sector in which we intend to strengthen our leadership position, and high-growth countries in which we must increase our presence even more rapidly.”
