Publicis Q4 underlying sales down 4.5% as its traditional business tumbles

PARIS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Publicis, the world's
third-biggest advertising group, said on Thursday that its
fourth-quarter underlying sales fell 4.5% from a year earlier,
as big clients continued to slash spending in a sector shaken up
by the entry of U.S. tech giants.

Net revenues fell to 2.87 billion euros ($3.2 billion).
Organic growth for the 2019 full-year was down by 2.3%, in line
with Publicis' own expectations, after having cut targets twice
last year.

The group confirmed its outlook for 2020, saying its
underlying sales would evolve in the range of -2% and +1%.

"Now that we have completed our transformation in terms of
assets and organization, we are in position to deliver what our
clients really need to thrive in a world increasingly dominated
by the platforms, as we demonstrated in our recent wins
with Disney and Novartis," Chief Executive Officer Arthur Sadoun
said.

($1 = 0.9093 euros)
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain;
Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)