PUTEAUX CEDEX, FRANCE--(Marketwired - May 2, 2013) -

* Q1 2013 revenue flat: EUR386 million versus EUR387 million in Q1 2012 (-0.3% net growth and -0.9% organic growth)

* Net New Business(1 )firm: EUR402 million

David Jones, Global CEO Havas, said: "The Group held up well against the sharp downturn in the European market overall in the first quarter of 2013, achieving positive performances in the key markets of France and the UK. Business in North America slowed after outperforming the market in Q4 2012, but emerging markets remain solid. Digital, media, advertising and healthcare communication all made significant contributions to Group performance."

1. KEY FIGURES

See the attached file (PDF).

2. GENERAL COMMENTS

Consolidated Group revenue for the 1(st) quarter of 2013 was EUR386 million compared with EUR387 million for Q1 2012, a slight decrease of - 0.3% on an unadjusted basis.

Organic growth in Q1 2013 was -0.9%, set against +3.5% for the same period in 2012.

The euro strengthened against the US dollar and GB pound in Q1 2013 as compared to Q1 2012, leading to a negative impact on revenue of almost EUR4 million. The Group's key performance indicators in Q1 2013 were broadly in line with plan.

Highlights by region:

Europe:

Results in Europe were mixed, with France reporting organic growth of +1.2% in Q1 2013, despite a high 2012 baseline, driven largely by advertising, media and digital. The UK returned to growth, with organic growth up +0.7% versus Q1 2012, despite budget cuts by certain clients. The Rest of Europe reported an overall decline (-2.4%) with the exception of the digital business, which continues to perform well across the board. Germany and Turkey continue to report good growth.

North America:

Following a very strong Q4 2012 (+6.5%), North America posted negative growth (- 3.9%) driven by high comparisons and certain one-off account losses from last year including Dell at Arnold, and Sprint and Exxon at Havas Worldwide. Healthcare communications continued to outperform and deliver strong growth despite significant declines in Pfizer, as did media. We expect the impact of the one-off losses to tail off in Q2 2013.

Rest of world:

Latin America once again reported good growth thanks to the digital and media businesses, and to strong growth in Mexico.

Growth continued in Asia-Pacific despite the loss of a significant account in Australia and the slow down of the corporate communications business in Hong Kong.

Healthcare communications and advertising made positive contributions.

3. NET NEW BUSINESS(1)

The Group delivered strong new account wins in Q1 2013, with net new business(1) of EUR402 million.

Significant wins in Q1 2013 include:

 Havas Creative Group: Bacardi - Camp + King & BETC London Carrefour - Havas Worldwide Paris Citroen - Havas Worldwide Shanghai Del Monte - Havas Worldwide Delhi Del Monte Milkbone - Arnold New York DMK - Global PR win, led out of Germany Ideal Standard - Havas PR UK for pan-European brief IPSEN - Havas Worldwide Paris La Poste - BETC & Havas Worldwide Paris Mothercare - Havas Worldwide London Ubisoft - BETC Paris United Nations - Havas PR Volvo - Havas Worldwide Munich & Dusseldorf Volvo Australia - Arnold Furnace 

Havas Media Group:

 Agrolimen - Arena Spain Artiach - Havas Media Barcelona TV Azteca - Arena Colombia Banque PSA Finance (Distingo savings account) - Havas Media France Bakrie Telecom - Havas Media Indonesia Burger King - Arena Argentina Burn - Havas Sports & Entertainment US, ignition, HS&E UK, HS&E Spain Crédit Agricole - Arena Poland General Mills - Havas Media France H&R Block - Havas Media Canada Ifema - Havas Media Spain (Madrid) Lembaga Penjamin Simpanan - Havas Media Indonesia Leroy Merlin - Proximia Spain Mazuma Mobile - Havas Media UK Mutua Madrileña - Havas Media Spain (Madrid) Reckitt Benckiser - in several markets Saint Maclou - Havas Media France Santa Lucia Seguros - Arena Spain (Madrid) Tourism of Turkey - Havas Media Germany, plus the UK, Sweden, Norway and Denmark Vivil - Havas Media Germany Yahoo! - ignition US, HS&E France, UK, Spain, Italy, Germany 

Digital wins included:

 Ale Combustiveis - Media Contacts Brazil LaCentrale.fr - Havas Media France Leboncoin.fr - Havas Media Regions France LVMH - Havas Media US Pizza Hut - Havas Worldwide Hong Kong Roquefort - Havas 360 Simple - Havas EHS Snuggle - Havas 360 SCA - Havas Worldwide Digital Athens Unilever (Rexona Women) - Havas Worldwide Digital Warsaw 

4. TALENT

The first quarter of the year has been one of rapid expansion in Havas's pool of talent, with the announcement of several major new hires at Havas Worldwide, Havas Media and Arnold. Starting in January, former Arnold Worldwide CEO Andrew Benett was named to the new post of Havas Worldwide Global President, reporting to David Jones, who remains Global CEO of the Havas Worldwide network. Robert LePlae, formerly Global President at Arnold, steps in to Benett's CEO role there.

Matt Weiss joined the network as Global Chief Marketing Officer, and Matt Howell stepped into the additional role of Chief Digital Officer for Havas Creative Group, expanding his responsibilities to both the Arnold and the Havas Worldwide networks.

Havas Worldwide recruited Vin Farrell from R/GA to fill the new role of Global Chief Content Officer, and Sean Lyons, also formerly of R/GA, as Global Chief Digital Officer. And in Chicago, Laura Maness was tapped to head new business development and agency growth as U.S. Chief Growth Officer.

Brendan Tansey, digital pioneer and former CEO of Wunderman UK, was named CEO of Socialistic China, part of Havas Worldwide Digital. This new startup was launched at the beginning of April and will specialize in digital work in Greater China.

Following the simplification of its global network and the success of its global rebranding at the beginning of the year, Havas Media Group also made several senior management announcements: Dominque Delport was appointed Global Managing Director, and Raphaël De Andreis joined Havas Media France as CEO.

5. AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

The Gunn Report, published in January, named "The Bear" for Canal+ the world's most awarded TV spot, not just in 2012 but in the entire history of the Gunn report.

The Mobius International Festival awarded BETC a Best of Show for Canal+ (Borgia) plus a further three Mobius awards for Canal+ in the Online and Television (Entertainment Media Promotion and Direction) categories, as well as a Mobius in New Media for MCM Pizzas.

At the Andy Awards, Arnold Boston was awarded Bronze in the Direct Response category for Al Gore's "Reality Drop" for Climate Reality.

Havas Worldwide Amsterdam was recognized in the Social Media category for its "Tweetphony" campaign for the Metropole Orchestra at the IAC Awards.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Havas Worldwide Sydney won a Gold for Virgin Mobile "Fair Go Bro" and an award in the Integrated category in addition to a Silver in Interactive for Sony NEX "DSLR Gear No Idea" at the Adfest and Host took Silver for Air New Zealand. At the A.W.A.R.D, Havas Worldwide Australia, Host, One Green Bean and Havas Worldwide Singapore scooped a total of ten awards, including seven Silver and three Bronze.

At the Dubai Lynx, Havas Worldwide Dubai netted Gold in Promotion for Reckitt Benckiser/Dettol. Havas Digital Middle-East took four Bronze awards at the Cristal MENA awards for Reckitt Benckiser/Durex.

Havas Sports & Entertainment UK was awarded for Lloyds at the European Sponsorship Association Excellence Awards.

In France, BETC topped CB News magazine's Hits d'Or creative league table; Havas Worldwide Paris, BETC and W&Cie were awarded a Grand Prix, a Special Prize, three Gold and a Silver at the Top Com Corporate Business awards; the Club des DA presented a total of 15 awards to Leg, BETC, Havas Worldwide Paris and H; at the Grand Prix Stratégies du Marketing Digital, BETC walked away with a Grand Prix for Evian, two more awards for Evian and Air France and a Distinction for Peugeot, while Leg achieved a Distinction for SFR.

Havas Worldwide London took two Bronze awards at the British Arrows; AIS London took Best Integrated Company for Sony Music at the IAB Creative Showcase Grand Prix awards; Havas Engage won a Silver and a Gold at the Mixx Awards in Turkey; Havas Worldwide Prague won a Silver and four Bronze awards at the Louskacek; Havas Worldwide Zurich won two Bronze awards at the ADC Switzerland.

Cake New York won a Silver SABRE award in the "TV Format Creation and Licensing" category for Glacéau Vitaminwater and Cake UK won the top award in the "Best Widget/Mobile Application" category for its Mobile Memories campaign for Carphone Warehouse.

In the United States, Havas PR North America took a Gold and a Bronze at the Bulldog Digital/Social PR Awards and a further two prizes at the CSR Awards plus a place on the "CSR A-List" for the second year running. At the Golden Hedgehog PR Awards, Havas PR UK carried off the Grand Prix and a Campaign of the Year award for Asda.

In Asia, the Youth Marketing Forum/Social Media Summit & Awards named Havas Worldwide Digital Matrix India as Social Media Agency of the Year; Havas Media China took two prizes at the Adworld Awards and another at the RTV China Awards.

One Green Bean named PR Agency of the Year by Ad News (Australia) and Havas Gurisa (Uruguay) named Agency of the Year by Desachate.

6. CALENDAR

The Annual Shareholders' Meeting will be held on June 5(th), 2013 at 9 a.m., at the Havas headquarters in Puteaux.

About Havas

Havas (Euronext Paris SA: HAV.PA) is one of the world's largest global advertising, digital and communications groups. Headquartered in Paris, Havas operates through its two Business Units: Havas Creative Group and Havas Media Group.

Havas Creative Group incorporates the Havas Worldwide ([ www.havasworldwide.com ]) network - formerly Euro RSCG Worldwide - (316 offices in 75 countries), the Arnold ([ www.arn.com ]) micro-network (16 agencies in 15 countries on 5 continents) as well as several other strong agencies.

Havas Media Group ([ www.havasmedia.com ]), is the world's fastest growing media group, operating in over 100 countries, and incorporates two major commercial brands: Havas Media (ex MPG) and Arena.

A multicultural and decentralized Group, Havas is present in more than 100 countries through its networks of agencies and contractual affiliations. The Group offers a broad range of communications services, including digital, advertising, direct marketing, media planning and buying, corporate communications, sales promotion, design, human resources, sports marketing, multimedia interactive communications and public relations. Havas employs approximately 15,000 people. Further information about Havas is available on the company's website: [ www.havas.com ]

Forward-Looking Information

This document contains certain forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Forward looking statements relate to projections, anticipated events or trends, future plans and strategies, and reflect Havas' current views about future events. They are therefore subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may cause Havas' actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results include changes in the global economic environment or in the business environment, and in factors such as competition and market regulation. For more information regarding risk factors relevant to Havas, please see Havas' filings with the AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers) (documents in French) and, up to October 2006, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (documents in English only). Havas does not intend, and disclaims any duty or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this document to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.

(1): Net New Business

Net new business represents the estimated annual advertising budgets for new business wins (which includes new clients, clients retained after a competitive review, and new product or brand expansions for existing clients) less the estimated annual advertising budgets for lost accounts. Havas' management uses net new business as a measurement of the effectiveness of its client development and retention efforts. Net new business is not an accurate predictor of future revenues, since what constitutes new business or lost business is subject to differing judgments, the amounts associated with individual business wins and losses depend on estimated client budgets, clients may not spend as much as they budget, the timing of budgeted expenditures is uncertain, and the amount of budgeted expenditures that translates into revenues depends on the nature of the expenditures and the applicable fee structures. In addition, Havas' guidelines for determining the amount of new business wins and lost business may differ from those employed by other companies.

Organic growth is calculated by comparing revenue for the current financial period against revenue for the previous financial period adjusted as follows:

- revenue for the previous financial period is recalculated using the exchange rates for the current financial period;

- to this resulting revenue is added the revenue of companies acquired between January 1 of the previous financial period and the acquisition date for the period in which these companies were not as yet consolidated;

- revenue for the previous financial period is also adjusted for the consolidated revenue of companies disposed of or closed down between January 1 of the previous financial period and the date of disposal or closure. Organic growth calculated by this method is therefore adjusted for variations in exchange rate against the euro, and for variations in the scope of consolidation.

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(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and

(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: HAVAS via Thomson Reuters ONE

[HUG#1698846]