Publicis Q4 underlying sales down 4.5% as its traditional business tumbles

PARIS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Publicis, the world's third-biggest advertising group, said on Thursday that its fourth-quarter underlying sales fell 4.5% from a year earlier, as big clients continued to slash spending in a sector shaken up by the entry of U.S. tech giants.

Net revenues fell to 2.87 billion euros ($3.2 billion). Organic growth for the 2019 full-year was down by 2.3%, in line with Publicis' own expectations, after having cut targets twice last year.

The group confirmed its outlook for 2020, saying its underlying sales would evolve in the range of -2% and +1%.

"Now that we have completed our transformation in terms of assets and organization, we are in position to deliver what our clients really need to thrive in a world increasingly dominated by the platforms, as we demonstrated in our recent wins with Disney and Novartis," Chief Executive Officer Arthur Sadoun said.

($1 = 0.9093 euros) (Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)