Universal Registration Document 2021

Publicis Groupe SA is a French limited liability company (société anonyme) with a Management Board and a Supervisory Board, governed by articles L. 225-57 to L. 225-93 of the French Commercial Code. The registered office is located at 133, avenue des Champs-Élysées, 75008 Paris, France. There was no change in the corporate name of company during the financial year, nor in its means of identification.

Note 1 Accounting policies and methods

Pursuant to Regulation (EC) 1606/2002 of July 19, 2002, the Publicis Groupe 2021 consolidated financial statements were prepared in accordance with the IAS/IFRS international accounting standards approved by the European Union as of the reporting date and that were mandatory at that date.

The 2021 consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes were approved by the Management Board at its January 31, 2022 meeting and reviewed by the Supervisory Board at its February 2, 2022 meeting. They will be submitted for approval by the shareholders at the General Shareholders’ Meeting on May 25, 2022. The consolidated financial statements are presented in euros rounded to the nearest million.

1.1  New applicable standards and interpretations

Compliance with IFRS standards as adopted by the European Union

The accounting principles applied to prepare the annual consolidated financial statements for the financial year ended December 31, 2021 are consistent with the IFRS standards and IFRIC interpretations as adopted by the European Union as at December 31, 2021.

Application of new standards and interpretations

The Groupe’s application of new standards and interpretations, adopted by the European Union during financial year 2021 or mandatory by December 31, 2021 at the latest:

• amendments to IFRS 9 “Financial Instruments” and IFRS 7 “Financial Instruments: Disclosures” phase 2 of the interest rate benchmark reform. The Groupe finalized the inventory work to ensure the transition to the new benchmark rate. The interbank rates were amended on the financial contracts at December 31, 2021. The entry into force of phase 2 of the “Interest Rate Benchmark Reform” project has no impact on the Groupe’s financial statements as of December 31, 2021 as most of financial liabilities and derivatives recognized in the Groupe’s balance sheet are at fixed rate;
• IFRIC decision of April 2021 on configuration and customization costs in a cloud computing arrangement. The analysis of the SaaS projects rolled out in 2021 did not reveal any major impact on the Groupe’s financial statements related to the application of the new IFRIC interpretations;
• IFRIC decision of April 2021 on the allocation of expenses for defined-benefit plans. Insofar as the Groupe’s plans do not have a fee structure capped at a certain number of years of service in the Company, this decision has no major impact on the Groupe’s financial statements.

Early application

As of December 31, 2021, the Groupe has not adopted any new standards or interpretations in advance.

Standards published by the IASB for which application is not mandatory

The principles applied by the Groupe do not differ from IFRS standards as published by the IASB, since the application of the following standard is not mandatory in financial years beginning on or after January 1, 2021:

• IFRS 17 “Insurance Contracts”. This standard has not yet been adopted by the European Union. The Groupe does not expect the application of this standard to have a material
  impact.

1.2  Consolidation principles and policies

Reporting currency of the consolidated financial statements

Publicis prepares and publishes its consolidated financial statements in euros.

Investments in subsidiaries

The consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of Publicis Groupe SA, and of its subsidiaries, as at December 31 of each year. Subsidiaries are consolidated as of the time that the Groupe obtains control until the date on which control is transferred to an entity outside the Groupe.

Control is exercised when the Groupe is exposed or entitled to the variable returns and provided that it can exercise its power to influence such returns.