• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, April 15, 2013

Publicis Groupe reported revenue of approximately $2.04 billion in the first quarter of 2013, up 7.6%. Organic revenue growth was lower -- just 1.3%, down from the 4.1% organic growth the company posted in the same period a year ago.

The good news was that the company far exceeded what it was expecting in the organic growth department. The internal projection was growth of just 0.3%. A key driver was a huge amount of new business in the quarter -- $2.1 billion, or nearly three times the $800 million it won in the first quarter of 2012. 

Big wins included both the American Honda Motors $1.14 billion media assignment and the $550 million Mondelez International award to MediaVest and the Kohl’s $300 million-plus media win by Zenith.

On a conference call with investors, the company took the unusual step of projecting that it would achieve organic growth for the year of between 3.2% and 3.6%. Even reaching the low end of the estimate would beat the company’s 2012 growth level of 2.9%. Usually, it projects growth figures by the quarter.

Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Levy said the early flurry of new business wins was a factor in the company’s confidence that it would reach the full-year projection. “It’s better to win at the beginning of the year,” said Levy, so that the new accounts can contribute to growth in the ensuing quarters.

Also buoying the company’s optimism, said Levy, is a continuing a “solid pipeline” of new business activity and a belief that the health care and pharmaceutical sector is poised for a turnaround in the second half of the year -- after more than a year of being in the doldrums.

That said, Europe remains a dark spot. The firm cited a sharp organic revenue decline in Europe for the period -- down 6.5%. The magnitude of the drop took the company by surprise, said Levy, noting that it was expecting a drop in the 3% to 4% range. “We are quite cautious about Europe going forward,” he said, noting that unemployment continues to rise and that the economies throughout Southern Europe continue to struggle.

But Levy also said the company expects some improvement in the region for the second quarter. “I’m tempted to say we’ve reached the peak of the bottom of what we can expect for declines in Europe,” he said.

The company’s overall organic growth in Q2, said Levy, will be in the 1.8% to 2% range.

While Europe’s decline came as an unpleasant surprise, business in North America “strongly” outperformed expectations, said Levy. Organic growth in North America was 4.4%.

Publicis also reported that growth was strong in the BRIC countries; high-growth markets include Mexico, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa and Turkey (MISSAT) where combined growth was approximately 5.5%.

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