• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, October 27, 2011

Havas, the Paris-based advertising holding company, posted third-quarter revenues of $547 million, up 5% from the same period a year ago. Organic revenue growth (ORG), which excludes acquisitions and divestitures, was up 7.3% -- an improvement over the 5.6% growth achieved for the first half of the year.

The ORG stats, a key performance metric for the industry, outpaced results achieved by crosstown rival Publicis, which reported a 6.4% gain during the period. For the first nine months of the year, however, Publicis is slightly ahead -- with an ORG gain of 6.9% compared to 6.1% for Havas. By comparison, Omnicom recently reported 7.2% ORG for the third quarter, with a 6.5% gain for the first nine months. 

Havas CEO David Jones noted that the bump in the company’s third-quarter ORG was the shop’s best result in that key performance indicator in three years. The company did not report profits for the quarter or the first nine months of the year.

As to the first three quarters of 2011, Jones stated that “all our regions grew, led by Latin America and Asia with strong growth in North America. All divisions contributed to our performance, including a continued acceleration in digital.”

In North America, the company’s ORG was 8.2%, with total revenues of $178 million.

Companywide revenue for the first nine months was $1628 million, up 5% compared to the same period a year ago. The company said that a stronger euro resulted in a negative exchange rate impact of $37 million for the first three quarters of the year. 

In the third quarter, the company said its growth in Europe was “more restrained” than in the first half of the year. Growth in France declined, but the UK came back strongly as a result of solid performances in health care communication, media, digital and advertising businesses, the company said.

In the remainder of Europe, notable growth drivers were Germany and the Netherlands, where Havas’ communications and media businesses performed well. “Southern Europe has yet to recover its economic vitality,” the company stated.

Havas cited both the Asia-Pacific and Latin American regions as top performers where just about every country contributed growth in the third quarter, with digital, media and healthcare as key drivers.  

The company reported that net new business for the first nine months totaled $1.8 billion, with key wins coming from Pernod Ricard, Reckitt Benckiser and hotel chain Ibis, among others.