Publicis Groupe SA’s share price down, reduces its full-year sales projection after third-quarter revenue misses analysts’ forecasts

Publicis Groupe SA reduced its annual sales projection after the revenue it reported over the third quarter missed analysts forecasts, as the company has been facing difficulties due to a failed merger with Omnicom Group Inc.

The companys Chief Executive Officer, Maurice Levy, said in an interview for the Wall Street Journal: “Performances don’t live up to what the market and we ourselves were expecting. We now hope for a much better 2015. (…) We are at the end of a cycle during which our attention wasn’t focused enough on taking short-term actions and on growth.” As reported by Reuters, Mr. Levy also added: “There are a number of factors behind this, mainly the fact that management was too focused on other plans and not enough on the short-term performance and growth.”

Publicis reported that its full-year organic sales excluding acquisitions are expected to be similar to the 1.5% growth, reported during the first nine months of the fiscal year. In comparison, the companys previous forecast, made in February, pointed to a 4% growth.

Publicis said that its total revenue totalled €1.7 billion ($2.1 billion) over the last three months ended September 30th. The France-based company also revealed that its organic sales excluding currency flotations, acquisitions and disposals over the period increased by only 1% due to slower growth in Europe and emerging markets.

In a statement posted in September this year, the company reaffirmed its targets until 2018 and revealed that it is not planning to present a special strategy to investors in October. Publicis has been dealing with some hard time after its $35-billion merger with Omnicom Group failed in May, as the executives failed to reach an agreement over the management of the combined company.

Publicis Groupe SA lost 3.10% to trade at €54.89 per share by 12:42 GMT, marking a one-year loss of 13.60%. The company is valued at €11.83 billion. According to the Financial Times, the 23 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Publicis Groupe SA have a median target of €65.00, with a high estimate of €75.30 and a low estimate of €52.00. The median estimate represents a 21.38% increase from the last price of €53.55.