PARIS, July 20 (Reuters) – Advertising agency Publicis
predicted a rebound in its business in the third
quarter after posting weak growth in the second, dragged down by
Europe’s economic woes and the loss of an important contract
with General Motors.

The world’s third-largest ad group by revenue, which
competes with WPP and Omnicom, posted
second-quarter revenue of 1.63 billion euros ($2.00 billion).

PARIS (Reuters) – Two of France’s biggest telecom groups plan cost-cutting measures that will lead to hundreds of job losses as they struggle with cut-price competition that has dramatically shaken up their home market.

SFR, a unit of conglomerate Vivendi (VIV.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), on Tuesday told staff representatives the main points of a restructuring plan involving voluntary redundancies.

PARIS, July 3 (Reuters) – SFR, Vivendi’s French
telecoms business, plans to make 500 million euros ($629
million) of cost cuts in 2013 on top of the 450 million targeted
for 2012 as it grapples with low-cost competition, a union
source told Reuters on Tuesday.

SFR, which has lost 3 percent of its customer base since the
arrival of low-cost operator Free Mobile in January, on Tuesday
presented to employee representatives the main points of a
restructuring plan involving voluntary redundancies.

PARIS, June 29 (Reuters) – Just three months ago Vivendi’s
veteran chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy, under fire
for a slumping stock price, said asset sales were “not taboo”.
Now that he’s quit, the group could be looking at a more
dramatic shakeup than he could have imagined.

Video game maker Activision Blizzard and Maroc
Telecom head up the list of candidates for sale,
analysts and bankers said, but his successors could now mull a
Murdoch-style split or even the sale of the SFR telecoms unit
which Vivendi grabbed control of just a year ago.

PARIS (Reuters) – The reign of Vivendi (VIV.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy ended on Thursday in a strategy dispute with the French telecoms and media conglomerate’s supervisory board, paving the way for possible disposals to shake up its flagging share price.

Vivendi, whose shares are at nine-year lows, has been reviewing its conglomerate structure and seeking ideas on how to reverse the stock slump, while its SFR telecom business has been hammered by fresh competition in the French mobile market since January.

PARIS (Reuters) – The reign of Vivendi Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy could be over by nightfall due to disagreements on strategy with the French telecoms and media conglomerate’s supervisory board, a person familiar with the matter said.

The group’s board will meet later on Thursday to decide Levy’s fate, the source said.

MARSEILLE, France, June 21 (Reuters) – The French and German
owners of Britain’s largest mobile operator, Everything
Everywhere, are not interested in selling and have enough cash
to invest in the business, France Telecom’s chief
executive said on Thursday.

Investment banking sources had told Reuters last week that
former chief executive Tom Alexander approached private equity
groups six months ago to gauge interest in an 8 billion pound
($12.6 billion) offer for the France Telecom and Deutsche
Telekom joint venture.

PARIS (Reuters) – Europe’s telecom operators must be more careful about managing their debts even though that will curb their ability to spend on acquisitions and reward shareholders as the sector hots up, a senior France Telecom (FTE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) executive said.

The industry has entered a period of turbulence touched off by the arrival of Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim to Europe, who is seeking to buying up low-priced telco assets, as well as looming investment needs in network upgrades.

PARIS (Reuters) – Iliad (ILD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), fresh from a successful launch of ultra-low cost mobile telephone service in France, now faces the crucial test of building out its network and figuring out how to turn rapid customer growth into profits.

Thomas Reynaud, chief financial officer of France’s newest mobile operator, said much would depend on how quickly the group could put up its mobile towers and migrate subscribers to the more expensive of its two offers at 19.99 euros a month for unlimited voice, texts and 3 gigabytes of data.

PARIS (Reuters) – Advertising agency Publicis (PUBP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is optimistic about marketing budgets for next year despite the ongoing drag from Europe’s debt crisis and the lack of major events such as the Olympic Games, Chief Executive Maurice Levy said.

The veteran chief of the world’s third-biggest ad agency, which competes with WPP (WPP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Omnicom (OMC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), acknowledged that Greece, Spain and Italy faced deep economic pain, but said he believed political leaders would avoid contagion infecting the entire common currency zone.