2019 Annual financial report

See the table below for the published net revenue and revenue of the top four groups in 2019:

(1) Exchange rate: EUR 1 = USD 1.119; EUR 1 = GBP 0.877. 

The reader should note that the figures above are those published by the groups concerned, in the currency and according to the accounting standards used by each of them

Publicis Groupe also competes with a large number of local, independent advertising agencies in markets around the world, via its Specialized Agencies and Marketing Services. New competitors have emerged in the IT/consulting sectors, such as Accenture, Deloitte and Capgemini, primarily through advertising acquisitions, such as Accenture’s 2019 deal for Droga5.

Generally speaking, the advertising and communications markets are highly competitive and the Group is in constant competition with national and international agencies. The Group expects that competition will continue to stiffen as multinational advertisers increasingly consolidate their budgets among a restricted number of agencies, and the communications sector sees significant changes, reflected in the appearance of new competitors from the consulting or high-tech industries.

1.3.8 Regulatory environment

Some of the Group’s businesses are governed by regulations that may vary from country to country or region to region.

In France, media buying activities are subject to the Sapin Law, a law requiring transparency in media buying transactions. Pursuant to the Sapin Law, an advertising agency may not purchase advertising space from media companies and then resell the space to clients on different terms. Instead, the agency must act exclusively as the agent of its clients when purchasing advertising space. The Sapin Law applies to advertising activities in France when the media company and the client or the advertising agency are French or located in France.

Many countries have strict laws governing the advertising and marketing of certain products, in particular tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs. New regulations or standards imposed on the advertising or marketing of such products could have an adverse impact on the Group’s operations.

These regulations can change frequently: their scope can be amended at any time; new regulations can be introduced— including without prior notice; and as the Group develops, it may expand into areas covered by regulations that did not previously apply to it. One result of the United Kingdom’s decision to exit the European Union (Brexit) could be to introduce changes to applicable regulations. Any new regulations or amendments to how existing laws or regulations are implemented or applied, or if the Group becomes subject to new regulations could have a material impact on the Group.

Even though the nature and scope of regulations vary between countries, Publicis Groupe is governed by the data protection laws and regulations in the majority of countries it is active in.

We updated our data privacy policy in line with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation [EU] 2016/679 of April 27, 016, GDPR), which came into force in May 2018.

The GDPR applies to all organizations (i) that process personal data related to the activities of an establishment in the territory of the European Union (EU) or (ii) that process data related to the offering of goods or services to persons located in the territory of the EU or to the monitoring of their behavior. The GDPR is based on a set of principles applicable to the processing of personal data, including the principle of data minimization, which consists in limiting the processing of personal data to that which is necessary for the purposes for which they are processed. Moreover, the introduction of new “privacy by design” and “privacy by default” principles requires companies to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data when new products and services are designed. The regulation also creates new obligations for data controllers and their sub-contractors to make businesses more accountable. They include notifying to the supervisory authorities, and in some cases, to the individuals concerned, personal data breaches that are likely to engender a risk to the rights of those concerned. Companies that process a large amount of personal data, like Publicis, are also required to maintain records of their processing activities and to appoint a data protection officer. Just as it tightened obligations incumbent on companies, the GDPR also created and reinforced the rights of individuals, in particular with regard to their right to information on how their data is processed. The regulation also lays down the framework for transfers of personal data outside the EU to ensure that individuals enjoy a sufficient and appropriate level of protection. The GDPR provides for administrative penalties including fines of up to euro 20 million or 4% of global annual revenue for the most serious breaches. These sanctions have already been used by the supervisory authorities in Europe since the GDPR came into force as they ramp up vigilance.

In parallel, Directive 2002/58/EC, dubbed the “ePrivacy” Directive, as amended, lays down rules to guarantee protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector. Transposed into French law by Law no. 2004-575 on confidence in the digital economy, this directive imposes obligations with respect to marketing and introduces rules on how cookies are used. The e-Privacy directive is being revised and is expected to be replaced by an e-Privacy regulation that will be directly applicable in the EU.

Other countries have also passed legislation to protect personal data. In the US, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA), applicable as of January 1, 2020. The key provisions of the CCPA include requiring companies that process the personal data of consumers residing in California to inform them about how they collect, use and share their data. It also allows California consumers to object to their information being shared with third parties and grants them a new right to sue for breach of their private data.