Publicis drops its financial guidance

Paris (Reuters): Publicis, the world’s third-biggest advertising company, said last week that it was no longer giving any financial guidance over its results, due to the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis.

‘As industry peers and other media companies have already communicated, it is difficult to accurately predict the evolution of advertising and marketing spend. Publicis Groupe has therefore decided not to give any guidance until further notice,’ the company said in a statement.

Publicis, which competes against bigger rivals WPP and Omnicom, reports first-quarter revenue on 23 April. It said that revenue at the end of February was in line with its 2020 roadmap.

Last month, Publicis had re-iterated its outlook for 2020 saying underlying sales would be somewhere in the range of down 2% to up 1%.

Publicis also said it will continue to ‘protect all its stakeholders’ interests and to rigorously manage all costs, particularly during this period.’