French advertising company Publicis Groupe SA's (PUB.FR) revenue growth remained stable in February, as demand for ads held up in emerging markets, Chief Executive Maurice Levy said Tuesday.

Publicis still expects to outperform the market this year in terms of organic revenue--a key metric in the advertising industry that strips out acquisitions, disposals and currency effects--after posting growth of 6.5% in the first quarter, Levy said.

"We saw no weakening in our revenue growth in the month of February," Levy said at Publicis's annual shareholders meeting. "Overall our objective is to grow and grow vigorously."

Levy said managers in general are still "inclined to invest" in ads.

The CEO added that Publicis isn't a candidate to buy Aegis Group PLC's (AGS.LN) market research firm Synovate.

Ipsos SA (IPS.FR), the world's No. 5 global research company, confirmed late Monday that it is in discussions with Aegis about potentially acquiring Synovate.

-By Max Colchester, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 4017 1740; max.colchester@dowjones.com

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