Company behind Irish arm of advertising group Publicis grows profit 12%
From Irish Times
Marketing and advertising budgets are often the first casualties during times of economic stress.
Profits at the company behind the Irish arm of advertising group Publicis grew 12 per cent in 2024 to more than €4.5 million, its accounts show.
Publicis, which includes the ESB, Heineken, the HSE, and Virgin Media among its clients, is one of the country’s largest advertising agencies.
Magalas, which is the holding company for 11 subsidiaries including Publicis, made a profit of €4,566,173 in the year, which was up from €4,079,469 in 2023.
The directors said they were “satisfied” with the performance of the group in the year. The group paid a dividend of €3,099,824 during the year to its shareholders, and followed it up with a further dividend of €3,500,076 after the end of the year.
Revenue grew by 8 per cent from €254.5 million to €276.5 million, while cost of sales increased almost 9 per cent from €217 million to €236.2 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation saw an increase of 10 per cent.
The group said it has continued to diversify into different specialisation areas within the marketing communications sector and now offer both media and creative communications to clients.
The company had cash at bank and in hand of €10.3 million at the end of the year, which was up from €7.2 million a year earlier.
The average monthly number of persons employed by the company rose by 10 to 361, while the staff costs came to €27.7 million, up from €25.6 million.
Marketing and advertising budgets are often the first casualties during times of economic stress, meaning confidence levels within the industry are sometimes seen as a bellwether for the wider economy.
A report last summer found Irish advertising, marketing and communications agencies expected client spending to stagnate or even shrink last year amid heightened economic uncertainty, despite reporting stable or growing revenues in the early part of the year.
An Amárach Research survey of the industry, commissioned by the Institute of Advertising Practitioners Ireland, pointed to an ambivalent mood among agencies.
While two-thirds of the 36 agency chief executives surveyed reported that their clients have increased or at least maintained spending levels in the year, an 81 per cent majority expected spending across the wider industry to remain flat or even fall for the full year.
WPP chief executive Mark Read stood down from the UK’s largest advertising group last year as it struggled with a near five-year low in its share price and an industry-wide upheaval caused by artificial intelligence.