Publicis says a net-revenue rise of 9.4%, an organic-growth increase of 4.9% and a number of client wins helped the advertising and PR multinational to a strong first quarter.

Tuesday’s first-quarter report showed an 11.3% year-over-year hike in North American revenue and a 4.8% increase in continental organic growth. The results excluded the impact of the U.S.-dollar-to-euro exchange rate and the contribution of acquisitions completed over the past year.

Publicis Connected Media – the company’s data, CRM, media, and social-commerce divisions – delivered high-single-digit organic growth for the quarter. New business and scope expansions fuelled high-single-digit growth for Publicis Intelligent Creativity, which the includes creative, PR and production departments.

The growth was partly offset by single-digit declines in the technology business, a branch in which clients are taking a “wait-and-see” approach to ad spend amid geopolitical turmoil, Publicis said in a news release.

CEO Arthur Sadoun said on the company’s earnings call that he is “extremely confident” in Publicis’s ability to deliver on its 2025 guidance after a reported “record high” in client wins in the first-quarter.

Publicis reported a dozen material wins without losing any significant clients, Sadoun said.

Clients are “continuing to invest, because they need to sustain or increase market share,” Sadoun said, adding that companies have grown used to uncertainty in the aftermath of COVID-19.

On the mergers-and-acquisitions front, the company invested half a billion euros in data, digital media and creator-influencer media.

Sadoun said Publicis was ahead of the curve with its data and artificial-intelligence investments. Last month Publicis Groupe announced the acquisition of Moov AI, a Canadian AI and data solutions firm that delivers strategic AI activations for more than 100 clients.

In terms of future hirings, Sadoun said Publicis will take a cautious but ambitious approach while “going after every strong talent that wants to join (Publicis’s) journey.”