Publicis upgrades annual forecast as ‘double-digit’ UK growth powers Q3

Publicis Groupe has upgraded its full-year guidance again and expects to grow between 5% and 5.5% in 2025, after its third quarter saw organic growth of 5.7% year on year. 

Net revenue for the quarter reached US$4.05 billion (€3.5 billion), with net revenue for the first nine months of 2025 at US$12.4 billion (€10.7 billion). 

Arthur Sadoun, chairman and chief executive at Publicis Groupe, called it “another very strong quarter, ahead of expectations”. 

He added that the French agency group saw an “acceleration in demand for our AI-led products and services”, and anticipated Publicis’s “positive trend” would carry through into Q4. 

The group emphasised it did not see any material cuts to clients’ marketing budgets, which led to its increased forecast. 

Latin America, North America and Asia-Pacific grew by 9.6%, 7.1% and 6.5%, respectively. 

In Europe, growth was less than half of the overall organic growth trend, at 2.8% in Q3. The UK, however, reported double-digit growth of 10.7%, the best performance of the group's major markets.

The Middle East and Africa were the only markets to decline, by 3%. 

The report also noted the acquisition of Captiv8, which Campaign reported in May of this year. At the time of acquisition, the network planned to integrate Epsilon and Influential to create an influencer operation “of unmatched scale and reach”. 

Publicis said at the start of 2025 that it expected growth of between 4% and 5%, then lifted its forecast to closer to 5% midway through the year and now is targeting between 5% and 5.5%. 

New business wins in the last three months have included Paramount and PayPal media and Haleon creative, after other big wins such as Coca-Cola media in North America and Mars earlier in the year. 

Sadoun said: “Looking ahead, we are now building for 2026, thanks to our unmatched new business track record, with net new billings for the first nine months of the year already reaching our 2024 total. As a result, we expect to outperform the industry once again next year, for the seventh year in a row.” 

Publicis' upbeat growth forecast is in contrast to a number of other holdcos, which are mostly projecting low or declining growth, with WPP most notably expecting an annual revenue drop of between 3% and 5% and warning its clients were being “cautious.”