Havas reports 0.8% drop in revenue for 2024 as Asia Pacific grows organically

Havas has reported a drop in organic net revenue of 0.8% for both Q4 and FY 2024.

In the first set of results since Havas was spun off from parent Vivendi, the company reported net revenues of €2.74 billion ($2.95 billion) for 2024, up 1.5% year on year in absolute terms but representing a 0.8% drop in organic terms, which strips out currency and acquisition effects. Growth was -0.8% compared with Q3’s -2.3%.

In 2024 Havas Media represented 38% of revenue, Havas Creative 40% and Havas Health 22%.

The company is predicting organic growth “above 2%” for 2025 and a profit margin of between 12.5% and 13.5%.

By region across 2024, Europe grew organically by 1.2%, Asia Pacific and Africa by 1.1% and Latin America by 14.7%. However, North America declined by 6.6%. 

In reference to 2024, the report stated: “The United Kingdom posted a negative performance, weighed down by Havas Health and Havas Creative.”

In the US the decline was “primarily due to the loss of Pfizer as a client”, while Havas Media had a “challenging year” and Havas Creative “recorded a solid performance."

The company said it made six acquisitions in 2024, including in the UK B2B marketing agency Ledger Bennett, social first agency Wilderness and tech and data shop DPMG.

Yannick Bolloré, chief executive and chairman of Havas, said: “2024 was a historic year of financial performance and transformation for Havas, marking its successful listing on Euronext Amsterdam and the launch of its Converged global strategy. Today, Havas is in a very strong position to deliver on its growth objectives and create long-term value, as it reaffirms its status as the strongest challenger in the communications and marketing industry.

“Havas has fully achieved its guidance for 2024, demonstrating strong agility. We are committed to driving profitable growth, seizing opportunities in rapidly expanding sectors like digital, retail, customer experience, design and strategic advisory, while increasing our investments in data, tech, and AI, and strengthening our global content-at-scale network.”

In January Havas Media Network UK launched Converged, a marketing engagement platform to help advertisers reach audiences without the use of third-party cookies, and it merged Havas Market UK and performance shop Search Laboratory to break down commerce and performance silos.

Havas is the last of the "big six" to report. In annual terms, Publicis Groupe increased organic revenues by 5.8%, Omnicom grew 5.2% (although it does not deduct pass-through costs), Interpublic was up 0.2%, Dentsu reported a 0.1% drop and WPP a 1% decline.