* Q2 underlying sales down 13%
* Beats market consensus of -20%
* Still no target for H2
By Mathieu Rosemain
PARIS, July 23 (Reuters) - Publicis, the world's
third-biggest advertising company, beat market expectations in
the second quarter with a less severe activity dive than most
analysts feared amid the global advertising freefall caused by
the COVID crisis.
The company, which has wooed new customers by promising
targeted campaigns based on large pools of data, said its
business model would prove to be more resilient than that of
bigger rivals WPP and Omnicom.
Publicis's quarterly underlying sales fell by 13% to 2.29
billion euros ($2.65 billion), above the average of 18 analyst
estimates compiled by the company, which predicted a fall of 20%
over the period.
The key metric benefited from the addition of large new
customers in 2019 such as Walt Disney Co, Bank of
America and Novartis.
These new accounts helped limit revenue losses in North
America, the company's number one region in terms of sales, as
brands scaled back their spending.
The Paris-based company said second-quarter underlying sales
in North America fell by 7.6%, just a third the fall seen in
Europe, where countries such as France, Spain and Italy imposed
very strict national lockdowns.
Looking ahead, Publicis said the uncertainties caused by the
coronavirus pandemic prevented it from providing any full-year
guidance, although it predicts operating margins will be higher
in the second half of the year than in the first half.
The group added it had already cut 286 million euros in
costs out of the 500 million it hastily planned in April for
2020 and that it could further "adapt its cost base" as needed.
"If the health situation deteriorates and there's an
additional impact on the economy, we'll be able to expand this
(cost-cutting) plan," chief executive Arthur Sadoun said in a
call with reporters.
($1 = 0.8647 euros)
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain)