Publicis Groupe Statement

Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris: FR0000130577, CAC 40] would like to provide some clarifications regarding claims made by Gouvernance en Action publicized on 17 May 2017.

On 31 March 2017, the Group replied to a letter sent by Mr. Fabrice Rémon, Director of Gouvernance en Action, and provided him all required clarifications.

Publicis Groupe had a dispute with a software and IT services supplier. This dispute was arbitrated and resulted in a settled resolution, covered by a confidentiality agreement, whereby Publicis Groupe would be compensated for the costs of the delays and difficulties it sustained.

The compensation received by Publicis Groupe was allocated in Publicis Groupe’s accounts in part to the reduction of the book value of the balance sheet assets corresponding to the project, in part to the neutralization in the 2014 income statement of the extra costs incurred as a result of the delays, and in part to cover forecasted extra costs in the coming years as a result of the delays known by the Group.

This accounting treatment has been validated by Group’s auditors, who confirmed that it was not necessary to mention this information in the notes to the financial statements relating to 2014 accounts nor in the annual report.

The Group communicated all this information to Mr. Fabrice Rémon as well as the journalist of L’Obs who questioned us in this respect. We reserve all our rights for any damages that such publications may have on our stock price, the company or our shareholders.