Havas, which owns the Euro RSCG and Arnold Worldwide advertising networks, made Euros 1.065 billion in revenues for the first half of last year.
Traditional advertising was the hardest hit, with organic growth down by 9.6 per cent. Revenue for other marketing services and media were down by Euros 2.7 million.
The chairman and chief executive, Alain de Pouzilhac, said he could not see any recovery for the market in sight, and a statement read: "No upturn in overall advertising-related spending has occurred year-to-date and it is unlikely that there will be any from now until the end of the year."
However, Havas is confident of a resurge in profitability, despite analysts' predictions. De Pouzilhac said: "Thanks to our initiatives, the progression of our profitability in the first half of 2002, compared with the second half of 2001, was significantly improved. We can face the second half of 2002 confidently, with the same goal of improving our profitability."
.jpg)
.jpg)