Publicis Groupe has reported a 31.7% jump in its first-quarter sales, aided by the weaker euro and the acquisition of Sapient earlier this year.

The French advertising giant said that its first-quarter sales rose to €2.1bn ($2.3bn), a big improvement on the €1.6bn reported during the same period last year. This was helped by the strong dollar and pound sterling against the euro.

Publicis has been trying to turn things around following a difficult year in 2014 with a lagging financial performance and a failed merger with its rival, Omnicom.

Organic growth, stripping out the effects of acquisitions and currency swings, rose by just 0.9%.

But Publicis chairman and chief executive Maurice Lévy remained positive: “We expected organic growth to be slightly down this quarter, but, on the contrary, it is up almost 1%. This isn’t yet the growth rate we expect to see out of Publicis Groupe, but is nonetheless an encouraging return to growth.”

Lévy focused on highlighting how the group’s acquisition of Sapient had driven digital growth.

“The main event of this early part of the year has been the completion of the Sapient acquisition, an event that gives Publicis Groupe a new strategic dimension while excelling the Groupe’s transformation. The integration process is already underway and the prevailing spirit is excellent,” he said.

Publicis completed the $3.7bn acquisition of US-based Sapient back in February which it claimed would be the “largest and most advanced” agency focused on digital transformation, omni-channel commerce, consulting and technology.

“For now, we are gradually implementing our growth program,” said Lévy.

“The second quarter will be better than the first, albeit with modest growth, as announced, that of the Groupe should be considerably stronger in the second half of the year.”

Shares in Publicis jumped 4.8% on Tuesday at 0740 GMT.

Rival group Omnicom’s first quarter results also came out today. The company reported a 0.9% fall in revenue, hurt by strong competition in overseas markets. The group’s total revenue fell to $3.47bn while international revenue also fell by 7.3% to $1.51 billion.