When Fernando Rodés Vilà was appointed chief executive of Havas, the French advertising group, two years ago, there were suggestions that Vincent Bolloré, the chairman, had given him the job as a reward for using his stake to help Mr Bolloré to gain control of the company.

“I never wanted this job. I had other things to do at the time. I’m pleased I now have the job, but it was never a trade-off situation,” insisted Mr Rodés Vilà, a down-to-earth Catalan whose family has a 3 per cent share of Havas.

The family business in Spain, Media Planning, was created by his father Leopoldo and bought by Havas at the turn of the century. He remains chairman of Havas’s media division, including MPG, while his brother Alfonso is the chief executive.

Mr Rodés Vilà takes a cautious approach at Havas, with large acquisitions a sensitive topic. He criticises a flurry of deals by former management.

Separately, as other advertising groups such as WPP and Publicis make large digital acquistions, Mr Rodés Vilà believes that this approach is “too risky” for Havas. His decision is likely to be financial as well as strategic.

“The previous management team went on a shopping spree in the late 1990s, spending €3 billion on 192 agencies in three years. They were buying anything that moved, even at the time of the bubble.” In 2003, the company said that 50 of its companies were underperforming, and it posted a €396 million loss. “As a shareholder, we weren’t happy and thought we’d sell our stake. Then Bolloré came in and we changed our minds,” he said.

Emilio BotÍn, the chairman of Banco Santander, was a mutual friend of both the Rodés Vilà family and of Mr Bolloré, who owns a 32 per cent stake in Havas. “Emilio told us to trust Bolloré. We are Catalans, which means it takes time for us to trust people.”

Mr Rodés Vilà, who is fluent in six languages and is always impeccably dressed, added: “Vincent did not just bring money, he brought a vision to Havas. He understood the dynamics of an industry whose model has changed significantly in recent years.”

Under Mr Rodés Vilà, Havas is emerging from the doldrums that laid low the world’s fifth-biggest marketing group, which includes the Euro RSCG advertising group and Maitland, the corporate PR firm. So far, he has done little that is dramatic, but colleagues credit him with creating a greater sense of stability at Havas. Even rivals concede that the company, long the laggard, is more integrated.

“Our margin in 2007 is 11 per cent. Quite an improvement on the 8.2 per cent we had last year. However, we are still halfway; this is still a few points below our best competitors,” he said. WPP’s operating margins in 2007 were 15 per cent.

This week, Havas said that its 2007 net profit had risen 81 per cent, a result of careful cost control. Mr Rodés Vilà declined to spell out how it had been achieved, but said: “We are very much focused on organic growth. To complement that, we will look at small, targeted acquisitions – but not at a huge corporate deal,” he said.

The plan is to build not only in emerging markets but in Britain, France, Spain and the United States, highlighting corporate and financial PR, healthcare, branded entertainment and sports marketing as possible areas for expansion. But that organic focus does not mean that Havas has lost interest in a tie-up with Aegis, the risk management group.

Mr Rodés Vilà indicates that a partnership of some sort would make sense, but adds: “This is an initiative not taken by Havas but by its chairman.” Mr Bolloré is also Aegis’s largest shareholder and has been unsuccessfully fighting for seats on its board.

The key to Mr Bollore’s success, though, could rest in the form of a charming, softly spoken Spaniard as his spokesman. Mr Rodés Vilà said: “We know for certain that these two companies could create value if they were put together. It is, after all, both of our obligations to create value for shareholders. We believe we could create something very interesting.”

It is difficult not to believe him. “Aegis will one day or another be sold and, knowing Vincent Bolloré as I do, he’s the kind of person who will never quit.”

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