2024 was a particularly turbulent year on the financial markets, and saw the performance gap between US and European equities widen.
After setting new records before the summer, the CAC 40 index ended the year down compared to January 1st. This volatility is the result of political uncertainties affecting several European countries, and particularly France, in a context of low economic growth.
Conversely, the US markets ended the year at new records, both for the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq, driven by a dynamic US economy and significant productivity gains, but also by the good performance of technological stocks, which are benefiting from the enthusiasm for artificial intelligence. The victory of Donald Trump also contributed to the increase of the American indices, the market being sensitive to the promises of deregulation and tax cuts by the new President of the United States.
After raising key interest rates to historically high levels to fight inflation, the major central banks began cycles of rate cuts this year. Thus, the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve both lowered their rates by 1 percentage point in 2024.
In 2025, the stance of monetary policy could diverge on both sides of the Atlantic. While the Federal Reserve is now cautious about its monetary easing cycle in the face of the resilience of the US economy and inflation, the sluggish growth outlook in the euro zone could lead the European Central Bank to continue its regular cuts during the first half of the year.
In 2024, the STOXX 600 Media index for European media increased by 16%, compared to +6% for the STOXX 600 Europe. The main global advertising groups experienced a mixed year, their market capitalization in dollars increasing by 3% on average. While growth in the sector has been driven by both a revaluation of valuation multiples and upward revisions of estimates, there are significant differences between the main players. Again this year, Publicis posted a market performance that was higher than its peers, up 23% despite the relative weakness of its national benchmark CAC 40 index (-2%) compared to the FTSE (+6%) and the S&P 500 (+23%) in 2024. While WPP’s share price rose by 10% in 2024, Omnicom’s fell by 1%, and Interpublic’s dropped by 14%. In 2024, Publicis maintained its leading market capitalization from the communications consulting group sector. Publicis continued to benefit from its solid positioning, good operational momentum and judicious use of its cash flow through high-potential acquisitions.
Publicis Groupe’s financial communications are committed to providing precise, transparent and truthful information about the Groupe’s position to all financial markets within the framework of the current texts, standards and procedures in France: the Financial Security Law and the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). The Publicis Groupe Investor Relations Department maintains a close, ongoing dialogue with both the brokerage company and investment fund analysts. Publicis Groupe’s financial communications with institutional investors is conducted via the organization of meetings in the world’s major financial markets, and by the participation of Groupe representatives at investor conferences.
In 2024, Publicis Groupe met with around 1,450 institutional investors at private meetings (roadshows, industry investor conferences and meetings on request).
The following information regarding the shares and financial instruments comes from the Euronext and Bloomberg websites.
On December 27, 2007, Publicis Groupe SA was informed that Publicis Groupe SA shares would no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. This delisting followed the Company’s notification on September 17, 2007 to the US market authorities of its intention to delist Publicis Groupe SA shares from the New York Stock Exchange (listed in the form of American Depositary Receipts (ADR) (ratio: one ADR for every one Publicis share), as average annual trading volumes rarely exceed 1% of all shares in the share capital.
By default, the share can be traded on the New York Stock Exchange OTCQX over-the-counter market as an American Depositary Receipt; ratio: 4 ADRs for one Publicis share (ticker: PUBGY). The OTCQX platform is an information tool that provides access to US investors while guaranteeing price transparency.
