By Mathieu Rosemain and Gwénaëlle Barzic
PARIS, July 21 (Reuters) - France's Publicis saidthe loss of large accounts in the United States last year willlikely hamper sales in the third quarter after reporting abetter than expected underlying growth over the April-Juneperiod.
The world's third-biggest advertising agency, whose growthhas been lagging that of competitors such as WPP andOmnicom in recent quarters, confirmed on Thursday thatit would improve all its financial indicators this year.
Publicis said quarterly sales rose 2.7 percent on an organicbasis to 2.46 billion euros ($2.71 billion). Reported growth was0.9 percent.
Analysts polled by Reuters had on average expected anunderlying growth of 1.72 percent in the second quarter. Theamount of the quarterly revenue was in line with the poll.
"We're still expecting a difficult third quarter, as it'sthe least productive of all. We're expecting it with someapprehension," Chief Executive Officer Maurice Levy toldreporters ahead of the publication of the results.
The loss of large media accounts in 2015 in the UnitedStates, Publicis' number one market, will likely have a"significant impact" in the current quarter, Levy added. Theseaccounts included Procter & Gamble, Coca Cola, Mondelez etGeneral Mills.
Publicis called 2016 a year of transition when it reported2015 results, as it digests the $3.7 billion acquisition ofU.S.-based digital business Sapient and reorganises itsbusinesses to foster greater collaboration between the myriadagencies it has bought over the years.
Levy also said the company's supervisory board will announcethe name of his successor between December 2016 and February2017. The announcement will mark the end of a life-long careerfor Levy, who has led the group since 1987.
Omnicom said last week that its second-quarter organic salesgrowth was 3.4 percent. WPP, the top advertising company in theworld, will report first-half earnings on Aug. 24, while Havas will do the same after market close on Thursday.($1 = 0.9088 euros) (Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain and Gwenaelle Barzic, editing byDavid Evans)
WPP (WPP)
