David Jones Named CEO of Havas Group

David Jones, CEO of France's Havas Worldwide, has been appointed CEO of the entire Havas Group, including Havas Media. Mr. Jones, who is British, worked closely with Prime Minister David Cameron in the run up to his general election victory last May. Mr. Jones' predecessor, Fernando Rodes, has been made vice chairman of the group, without a seat on the board. Fernando's brother, Alfonso Rodes, has been named deputy CEO and will continue as CEO of Havas Media. Mr. Jones has in the past few years become a more visible face for the holding company, and has been supporting initiatives such as a reinvigoration of creative agency Arnold, and taking equity stakes in new ventures such as Socialistic. Havas is the world's seventh-largest agency holding company, according to Ad Age DataCenter. Havas Group today reported a 4.9% increase in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2010, behind rivals WPP, up 8.5%, Omnicom, up 10%, and Publicis, up 12.5%. North America is driving growth for Havas, just as it is for WPP, with 5.4% growth over the year and 6.1% in the fourth quarter of 2010. Revenue for the region was $700 million last year, up from $637 in 2009. Europe continues to bring in the most revenue, with $1.16 billion, but achieved negative growth of 0.7% in 2010, although this reached 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Latin America -- and especially Brazil -- was the fastest-growing region, with 27.4% growth and $186 million in revenues. Asia/Pacific, driven by China, grew at 5.9% across the year and brought in revenues of $105.7 million.

David Jones Named CEO of Havas Group

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