Shares in Publicis dropped by 2.18% to €28.66 this afternoon, as Levy said that a previously expected recovery was showing no signs of materialising. "We were expecting a stabilisation in the second quarter, and a recovery from September onwards," he said. "At the moment, there is no sign that this scenario will come true."
He also said that the first quarter of the year had been slightly worse than expected.
Levy made the comments at Publicis' AGM today. At the same meeting, shareholders agreed to the French ad giant's $3bn takeover of Bcom3, to create the world's fourth-largest marketing services group. It is paying Bcom3 with cash and bonds.
Goodwill amortisation for the deal is expected to be around $3bn.
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