UPDATE 3-Havas sales to drop in 2009, seeks acquisitions

* 2009 sales seen falling no more than 10 pct

* Aims to limit impact of falling sales on earnings

* Seeking acquisitions in global crisis

* Bollore "very happy" with Havas, Aegis investments

(Adds analyst comments, updates shares)

By Dominique Vidalon

PARIS, June 3 (Reuters) - World number six advertising group Havas (EURC.PA) expects sales to fall by up to a tenth this year but aims to limit the impact on earnings through cost controls.

Chairman Vincent Bollore told the group's annual meeting on Wednesday Havas would seek acquisition opportunities but had no immediate plans for the UK's Aegis Group (AEGS.L), in which the French financier holds 29.9 percent.

A fall in sales of up to a tenth was likely to hit earnings, but Havas "should be able to retain a large part of its result in 2009", helped by tight control over variable costs, Bollore told shareholders.

"We are suffering more or less like the sector's average. I do not feel that we suffer more than others or that we will suffer more," he said.

Havas, whose clients range from France Telecom (FTE.PA) to Coca-Cola (KO.N), posted an 8.4 percent drop in first-quarter organic sales last month amid a recession-fuelled downturn in ad and marketing spend. [ID:nLF705282].

April showed "a similar trend", with sales down by around 8-10 percent, Bollore said.

Analyst Edouard Camblain at Societe Generale called the 2009 sales outlook "realistic", adding it gave Havas "some room for manoeuvre" when compared to consensus estimates. He eyed a sales decline of 6.6 percent for the year. Bollore is the largest shareholder of Havas, with a 32.9 percent stake. He is also the largest shareholder of media buying agency Aegis with 29.9 percent.

The situation has fuelled speculation Bollore could seek to merge the two groups to help them better compete with larger rivals such as France's Publicis (PUBP.PA) or Britain's WPP (WPP.L), the world's largest ad group by revenue.

Havas has a market capitalisation of 820 million euros ($1.2 billion) while Aegis' value is 962 million pounds ($1.6 billion) based on Tuesday's closing prices.

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