France's Havas expects good new business figures in Q4

By Dominique Vidalon

BARCELONA, Nov 20 (Reuters) - France's Havas (EURC.PA), the world's sixth largest advertising group, said on Thursday that trading conditions were "positive" in October and that it expected to report "good figures" for new business in the fourth quarter 2008.

Chief Financial Officer Herve Philippe made the prediction at the Morgan Stanley annual Technology, Media and Telecoms conference in Barcelona.

French financier Vincent Bollore is the chairman of Havas and the main shareholder of both Havas and British rival Aegis (AEGS.L), a situation that has sparked speculation the two companies could at some point link up.

Asked to comment on Havas's plans towards Aegis (AEGS.L), Philippe said: "Two years ago it (Aegis) would have been more strategic for Havas than it is today. We have shown we are able to develop the company without any major acquisition. That said, we have said we think it would make sense to do something commercially or capitalistically with Aegis in the media," he said.

But he added that to his knowledge there were no discussions going on between Aegis and Bollore or between Aegis and Havas.

"Will it change in the future ? I do not know. Aegis's price has come down, ours too," he said.

The global crisis, which is pushing down companies' valuations has recently fuelled speculation Bollore could make a move for Aegis. Bolllore owns 29.1 percent of Aegis and nearly 33 percent of Havas.

Philippe would not commit to a forecast for 2009, only saying that Havas would "maintain profits whatever the (revenue) growth is".

Last week Havas cut its 2008 revenue growth expectations as a global economic slowdown took its toll on the third quarter.

Chief Executive Fernando Rodes had told Reuters in a phone interview that he now expected 2008 organic sales growth of around 4.5-5 percent, having achieved 5.8 percent in the nine months but just 1.5 percent in the third-quarter.

The prediction, which compared with a previous forecast of 5-6 percent growth, was "a personal opinion" and not a formal guidance, he had cautioned, however.

Last month, three leading advertising groups including France's Publicis (PUBP.PA) issued dire warnings about an industry slowdown, as economic upheaval threatens planned spending on advertising from TV commercials to Web searches. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, editing by Will Waterman)