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Why does Maurice Lévy want to spend €416m on buying LBi?
Few would challenge the Publicis policy of investing in digital assets in the manner pursued so energetically by chief executive Maurice Lévy. It has proved to be a good strategy so far. And, as a...
View ArticlePinch yourself…agencies seem to be making bigger profits
It’s hard to believe that many of the financial results reported in the last week or so have been very positive. What happened to recession and the financial crisis that we are all supposed to be...
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It would be nice if sector share prices anticipated economic trends
There is some evidence – but not a lot – that the stock market anticipates trends in economic activity, pruning back share prices when a downturn is expected and cautiously lifting those prices back...
View ArticlePublicis trumpets the past while WPP analyses the future
Publicis Groupe’s ability to continue building revenues at a seemingly faster rate than its global competitors – reflected in its third quarter results announced today - may well have been helped by...
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Share incentive scheme and development costs wipe out Facebook profit
If share incentive schemes are intended to reward staff for building bigger profits for shareholders, the Facebook scheme is an unmitigated failure. While revenues grew by 36% in the nine months to 30...
View ArticlePublicis bid for Lbi all over bar the cheering?
With 86% of LBi International’s shares either already purchased or subject to irrevocable undertakings, it is hard to envisage any circumstances that would prevent Publicis concluding its takeover bid...
View ArticleEconomic gloom, but it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good
As each week passes, we hear more gloomy outpourings about trading prospects from the major groups in the industry. Huntsworth and Dentsu joined the gloomy chorus last week, countering Maurice Lévy’s...
View ArticleReported profits: when nothing is quite as it seems
Anyone who thinks that businesses are easy to manage and that profits are easy to predict could learn a lesson or two from the results of two public companies in the marketing sector that reported this...
View ArticleMust escalating staff costs continue to erode profit margins?
Lots of people no longer believe it is possible to keep staff costs down to no more than half an agency’s gross income. Undoubtedly it is a difficult challenge – one that is increasingly dismissed as...
View ArticleAnother year older, but not deeper in debt?
It is too early to know what marketing agencies’ balance sheets will look like on 31 December, but there have been some signs that borrowing levels have stabilised. A survey published in October...
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