Publicis Q3 growth hits 5%. Its two biggest 2026 wins skipped the pitch

Publicis Q3 growth reached 5.0% on an organic basis, on net revenue of €3.81 billion for July to September 2026. The group published the figures on October 13. Growth was up from 4.8% in the first half, according to the group’s third-quarter revenue release. Reported growth was 7.9%, helped by currency and acquisitions.

Publicis grew fastest in Germany, China and Latin America

The US, which brings in 59% of group net revenue, grew 4.5% organically. Europe grew 4.7%. Inside Europe, Germany rose 7.7%, France 4.5% and Central and Eastern Europe 7.2%. The UK was roughly flat.

Asia Pacific grew 5.4%, with China up 10.6%. Latin America jumped 23.8%. The Middle East and Africa fell 1.4%, which Publicis put down to conflict in the region.

Media drove the quarter. The unit Publicis calls Connected Media makes up 62% of net revenue and grew at a high single-digit rate. Creative work, a quarter of revenue, grew slowly. Technology consulting shrank slightly but improved on the previous quarter.

Sadoun says the two biggest 2026 wins came without a pitch

On the analyst call, chief executive Arthur Sadoun said Publicis Sapient helped win the group’s two biggest accounts of the year without a formal review. He did not name the clients. He also said three AI transformation projects were won outside a pitch process.

Sadoun cited COMvergence data showing that more than 90% of new business in the first half of 2026 went to one of three groups. A year earlier the share was below 75%. In his reading, clients now pick one of Publicis, Omnicom or WPP earlier and skip months of comparison. Publicis has already taken PepsiCo’s global media from Omnicom this year.

Publicis keeps its 2026 forecast of 4.5% to 5%

The group confirmed organic growth of 4.5% to 5% for 2026 and an operating margin slightly above 18.2%. Publicis said net new business adds about 2.5 percentage points to growth this year. On the call, management put next year’s boost at around 2 points.

Sadoun said Publicis is “uniquely equipped to benefit from this new competitive landscape.” The release lists four deals from this year, including the agreed purchase of data company LiveRamp.

The gap is now visible in client moves. Publicis gains when a brand like PepsiCo consolidates its media in one place. Omnicom, which is still cutting thousands of jobs, and WPP, which won Coca-Cola’s international media account after Publicis took PepsiCo, are the two groups left to fight over the accounts that do still go to review.