2019 U.S.-Booked Air Volume: $125 million
BTN estimates advertising and PR company Publicis Groupe's U.S.-booked air volume increased by 20 percent in 2019 compared to $104 million in 2018. Net revenues were up 9.3 percent for 2019 to 9.8 billion euros, with Epsilon, acquired in July 2019, contributing to second-half results. The company acquired 19 companies in 2019, which also included Xebia and Soft Computing. Publicis Groupe noted in its 2019 annual report a revenue shift toward data and technology, which now represent about 30 percent of its revenue.
The company announced a repositioning of the U.S. division of subsidiary Publicis Sapient, the digital business transformation hub of Publicis Groupe, around business transformation through industry verticals. This move had a negative impact on short-term organic growth for the company in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Publicis Groupe cut operating expenses by 286 million euros in the first half of 2020, with reductions in personnel at the parent company and several subsidiaries, and some expenses like travel, recruitment costs and seminars going to zero during the coronavirus lockdowns, among other factors. The company anticipates additional cuts in the latter half of the year, including more personnel reductions. It also does not expect its business travel to resume for several months, and it put in place rules to avoid such travel for when it is not for client needs. The company had 83,235 employees as of the end of 2019, compared with about 84,000 a year prior.