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Publicis stuns market with strong Q2 underlying sales growth

* Ad group shares up 4.5 pct, best CAC 40 index performer

* Internal reorganisation, Sapient drive performance

* Loss of large accounts in 2015 to be felt in Q3

* Successor of CEO Levy likely to be chosen internally (Recasts story, adds details)

By Mathieu Rosemain and Gwénaëlle Barzic

PARIS, July 21 (Reuters) - France's Publicis (Paris: FR0000130577 - news) impressed investors on Thursday with quarterly figures that flagged the success of a sweeping reorganisation and the integration of its last big acquisition in the United States.

Despite the expected departure in 2017 of Maurice Levy, the CEO credited with the turnaround, shares in the world's third-largest advertising group were at an 11-month high at 1130 GMT, rising 4.5 percent to 67 euros.

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Second-quarter sales rose 2.7 percent on an organic basis to 2.46 billion euros ($2.71 billion), beating a Reuters poll of 1.72 percent organic growth for the period.

Publicis called 2016 a year of transition when it reported 2015 results, as it digests the $3.7 billion acquisition of U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) .-based digital business Sapient and reorganises its businesses to foster greater collaboration between the many agencies it has bought over the years.

The group is already attracting new clients such as GlaxoSmithKline (Other OTC: GLAXF - news) and Asda, it said on Thursday.

The financial benefits will be seen as soon as 2017, Publicis said, while the integration of Sapient helped boost revenue in the digital business by 6.3 percent in the first half.

Chief Executive Officer Levy, who has led the company since 1987, said the reorganisation had been one of his toughest challenges.

He confirmed his successor as CEO will be presented by the board between December 2016 and February 2017. Publicis' board is looking at internal candidates only so far, he said.

He also said that the loss of large media accounts in 2015 in the United States, Publicis' top market, will likely have a "significant impact" in the current quarter. These accounts included Procter & Gamble, Coca Cola (NYSE: KO - news) , Mondelez et General Mills.

Omnicom said last week that its second-quarter organic sales growth was 3.4 percent. WPP (LSE: WPP.L - news) , the top advertising company in the world, will report first-half earnings on Aug. 24, while Havas (Other OTC: HVSYY - news) will do the same after market close on Thursday.

($1 = 0.9088 euros) (Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain and Gwenaelle Barzic, editing by David Evans)