Havas, the French advertising agency, yesterday won some breathing space in its battle against corporate raider Vincent Bolloré by posting a 2% rise in full-year revenue for 2004 and promising a return to healthy profits.

The world's sixth-largest agency, in which Mr Bolloré has amassed a hostile 20% stake, pointed to a turnaround in its UK business as a significant reason for its overall recovery last year.

The British arm reported a 2.4% rise in sales to €52m (£36m) in the final quarter, reducing the net full-year loss in sales to 0.4% on turnover of €221m. The US business grew 3.4% in the fourth quarter.

Despite losing US accounts for Intel and Volkswagen in the final three months, the group said net new business last year rose 59% to €1.5bn and it had since won new accounts, including Homebase and P&O Ferries in the UK.

Strongest growth last year came in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, both relatively small, while in France, its second-largest market after North America, revenues rose 6.6% during the year to reach €296m.

Havas has been seen as vulnerable to a takeover since it lost the bidding war last year for US agency Grey to WPP, prompting Mr Bolloré to build up his stake and demand seats on a revamped board.

Alain de Pouzilhac, the Havas chairman and chief executive, has repeatedly pressed Mr Bolloré to declare his intentions towards the company but to no avail. It is unclear whether the industrialist is in for the long term or will cash in his stock for a lucrative profit.

Shares in Havas rose as much as 3% as Mr de Pouzilhac said last year's financial results, to be announced early next month, would show that "all the targets management had set itself over the year have been achieved and even exceeded".

He added: "This is the clearest possible demonstration that our strategy is the right one and is bearing fruit ... We can only be optimistic for the 2005 performance."