We can see that the operational and financial performance of Omnicom - number two worldwide behind WPP, and owner of the DDB and BBDO networks, among others - remains perfectly identical in the first half of 2023 to what it was in the first half of last year.

Business volume is stable, while a slight downsizing has been undertaken to curb the effects of inflation: this is the strength of the agency business model, and of consulting activities in general, which can be adjusted at will according to the economic climate of the moment.

The days of fast-growing advertising groups - a la Mad Men - are long gone. Like its peers, Omnicom has become a virtual utility. In fact, its sales in 2022 look exactly the same as they did in 2012.

As such, capital allocation is almost entirely geared towards shareholder remuneration, with major share buybacks - carried out at very reasonable valuations on the whole - reducing the number of shares in circulation from 270 to 205 million in ten years.

All other things being equal, Omnicom generates a cash profit - or "free cash flow" - of $1.5 billion a year. On this basis, the group is currently valued at x13 its profits. At this level too, excluding the exceptional episode of the pandemic, everything has remained constant for ten years.