MUMBAI: Global advertising and communications services group Havas has announced that revenue amounts to € 700 million for the first half of 2005 compared to € 748 million for the first of 2004, a decrease of 6.4 per cent,
Net income reached € 34 million, up 52 per cent on the first half of 2004. The profit increase had been expected, and was attributed to an overall reduction in operating expenses achieved by the December 2004 repurchase of bonds following a rights issue last October.
Key accounts won in the first half-year included Diesel’s global account, Jaguar, ESPN Mobile and Lukoil in the US, LG Electronics (pan-European account). The ad accounts bagged included RadioShack, Sony Electronics and CareFirst in the USA, Afflelou, Champion, Cacharel Parfums, Tac O Tac and le Transilien (SNCF) in France, News
Corp in Great Britain, Sogecable in Spain.
Media accounts bagged included AutoZone and Amica Insurance in the USA, P&O Ferries in Great Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium, Peugeot in the Netherlands and Belgium. It got the marketing services of Heineken, Danone (CRM) and the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.
Among the accounts lost were Intel and Volkswagen Media in the USA during the first quarter and Nikon (marketing services), Amgen and Spiriva (Boehringer and Pfizer) in the healthcare sector in the second quarter of 2005. Moreover, it was recently announced that the Volkswagen creative account in the US held by
Arnold was lost to a local American agency.
The Havas board of directors considers that this beginning of the Group’s recovery must be
pursued and amplified. The Group’s results need to be significantly improved by a combination of revenue growth translating into increased market share, with a substantial rise in profitability. The Board of Directors has confidence in the proven ability of Havas’ teams to rise to all these challenges.