Publicis Groupe chairman and CEO Maurice Levy is expecting Q209 to be the worst part of a bad year for his company but he predicts the ad market will reach a bottom in July and see recovery after that. Levy told his company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Paris on Tuesday (via Reuters.com) that “2009 will not be a great year, a great vintage, but we have undisputable assets.” It’s an injection of optimism from the straight-talking Levy, who in December predicted the recession would halt any ad market improvement until at least the start of 2010.

Publicis’s Q1 revenues were 4.4 percent down at €1.07 billion (£929,000), but Levy is hopeful he can beat the industry-wide consensus that the ad market will see a drop of between seven and eight percent this year. Levy admits the company’s operating margin—16.7 percent in 2008—will experience some “erosion”, despite a cost-cutting programme.

The bright spots for Levy are the same he has highlighted in quarterly earnings reports: growth in emerging markets, mainly the BRIC nations and eastern Europe, and digital revenue growth. Publicis had a tidy cashflow of €2.8 billion at the end of 2008, but Levy said there were no available targets in emerging markets—but there may be investment in Germany.

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