He was speaking at yesterday's AGM, where Havas shareholders also agreed to drop the name "Havas Advertising" in favour of the simplified "Havas".
Havas had been tipped to be on the hunt for acquisitions, particularly to give it a global presence in the media-buying and planning sector after it failed to buy Tempus last year. Its name has been linked to possible bids for Cordiant Communications and media-buying group Aegis.
Recently, speculation has intensified after rival French advertising group Publicis announced a $3bn (£2.1bn) deal to acquire B|Com3, which will see it become the world's fourth biggest group. Havas is at number six in the world rankings and suffered badly at the hand's of last year's advertising downturn.
De Pouzilhac told the AGM: "Our aim is to make few acquisitions. We are going to concentrate on existing and new clients to develop our profitability and organic growth."
Havas has set a target of revenue growth of between 0% and 2% for 2002. "While remaining cautious, we think the second quarter will be less difficult, even though I stress we do not expect a recovery in the market," he said.
Shares in the group, listed on the Paris Bourse, dropped 0.37% to €8.08 at the close of business yesterday.
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