Revenues for the nine months to September 30 were up 1.6% to €1.77bn (£1.12bn) from €1.74bn, helped by the full integration of Saatchi & Saatchi -- which Publicis bought at the end of last year -- and a few days of trading by Bcom3, the acquisition of which was completed on September 24.
"The expected improvement in the marketplace in the third quarter did not materialise. On the contrary, the drop which began in 2001 continued and even accelerated in some countries," Levy said.
Revenues in Europe and North America continued to fall, down by 3.7% and 5.8% respectively, while in Asia revenues grew 3.3% and Latin America grew 6.5%.
The company said the performance of the euro against the dollar also affected business, "which practically erased the additional revenues generated by the newly consolidated activities", according to a statement.
Consolidated billings rose 28.5% for the first nine months of the year to €14.6bn up from €11.3bn last time.
The company said that advertising of consumer products and cars were holding up well, while expenditure was still slowing in finance, technology and telecoms.
Levy added: "The most notable feature of the current marketplace remains poor visibility and, therefore, uncertainty about advertiser investment decisions, including in the short term."
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