• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, August 27, 2015

Havas Group reported a 28% gain in net profits for the first half of the year to 77 million euro or about $86.5 million at today’s exchange rate, on a 19% revenue gain to 1.034 billion euro (about $1.16 billion). The revenue gain was helped in part by favorable currency fluctuations, the company said.

Organic revenue growth for the first half was 6.3%, with a 5.5% gain in the second quarter.

North America was the group’s strongest performing market with revenue of 375 million euro (about $421 million) and organic growth of 9.2% for the half. Q2 growth, at 8.2% was a bit less than the 10.2% growth in Q1.

“We are plesaed to note satisfory progress across all our regions,” said Havas CEO Yannick Bollore.

Commenting on the recent turmoil in the global financial markets, driven by worries of the Chinese economy and other factors, Bollore said opportunities may arise for the group to win new clients “attracted to an innovative agency model that offers a better response to their changing needs.”

Some 85% of Havas Group’s revenues are derived from its North America and Europe operations. But the emerging markets are important to the company’s long-term growth and Havas will continue to invest in them, Bollore said. He cited the win of AXA Group by Havas Media Asia earlier this year as an example of the opportunities Havas is positioning itself to exploit.

The Group reported nearly $1.3 billion (annualized billings) in net new business wins for the first half, including new assignments from Danone, Ubisoft and BBC.