The claim is made by newsletter , which says that after-tax profits at Publicis only rose from €147m (£98m) in 2002 to €150m in 2003 -- despite the fact that it acquired Bcom3 during that period.
It also said that diluted earnings per share fell from €1.08 in 2001 to €0.75 in 2003, that it has the lowest post-tax profit as a percentage of revenue compared with rivals WPP Group and Omnicom Group.
According to Bob Willott, who edits Marketing Services Financial Intelligence, Publicis is doing a good job of talking up its 2003 results by claiming "exceptional performance" and "the achievement of all its objectives for 2003".
"But it has not paused to explain why it's not making the sort of profit it should be making," he said.
He said that Levy had referred to improvements in profitability and the balance sheet, yet net assets had actually declined and operating margins fell from 14.7% in 2002 to 14.3% in 2003.
The newsletter also said that last year Publicis failed to make progress on any key measure such as margins, gearing and net assets, which either slipped back or stagnated.
Levy has been assuring shareholders in the company that Publicis can hit an operating margin of 15% in 2004.
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