Reports say that Publicis' operating profit is likely to be around €154m (£97m), compared with €149m for the same period last year.
In August, Publicis said that revenues for the first half of the year were up 2.4% to €1.2bn, with billings up 29% to €9.7bn.
The rise in profits is being attributed to Publicis moving quickly in cutting costs as the industry faced the advertising downturn. However, some analysts fear that it will not be enough to prevent Publicis' profit margin from falling from the 13% for the same period last year.
Publicis is set to formalise its merger with BCom3 on September 20. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the new company would make job cuts within the parent company, and said that it would struggle to meet operating profit margin targets of 15%.
But in a later interview, Publicis CEO Maurice Levy said: "The market situation is quite difficult and difficult to predict. However, I am very confident that we will reach and deliver the targets."
Shares in Publicis, trading on the Paris Bourse, were up 1.67% at €21.25 this morning from a close of €19.95 yesterday.
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