Havas, claiming a healthy pipeline of new business for the rest of 2026, says the media account for shoe and clothing company Skechers will be a top 20 account.
The multi-regional client, landed via the Horizon Media joint venture, will have billings below €100 million.
Havas, when briefing analysts on its June quarter results, wouldn’t give a more detailed revenue forecast for the account, citing confidentiality.
On the negative side, Havas lost the media business in the US for French healthcare company Sanofi but extended the main contract on health and creative for the next two years.
"We lost what is just the media in the US and not globally, even though the US is the largest country where you can do more advertising for pharma than in other countries," said CEO Yannick Bolloré.
The loss represented about one per cent of group revenue.
Bolloré said the impact would not flow through to the current financial year and pointed to continued new business wins in the US, including Farmers Insurance, Santen and Vinted.
"The momentum remains in the US despite, of course, this news," he said.
He said it was too early to discuss organic growth guidance for next year but that the company had a lot of pitches in play, some defensive, others offensive.
Havas, describing itself as the “strongest challenger” in advertising, reported a 2.5% lift in organic revenue for the half year to June. June quarter net revenue was up 3.8% to 724 million euro
North America was the standout region, with organic growth of 6.9% for the half year helped by the performance of Uncommon Creative Studio whose clients include Meta
Havas kept its full-year guidance unchanged, targeting organic growth of 2% to 3%.
Bolloré said Havas had good momentum.
“We have a good view on 2026 and we believe we will achieve our guidance,” he said.
He said clients are increasingly expecting more integrated capabilities, more agility and measurable business outcomes.
“This is why we believe Havas is particularly well-positioned,” he said.
“We define ourselves as the strongest challenger in the market. We are a stable, coherent and agile group with a clear strategy and our famous integrated model.
“This clearly reinforces our position as the best challenger, and it gives us confidence in our ability to create value for our clients and deliver sustainable growth. This performance is built on a set of strengths that we have consistently developed over time.”
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