Omnicom reported 3.3% growth across its PR operations in the third quarter 2014 on revenue of $343.3M.
Across the board, the marketing conglomerate saw revenue rise 7.4% to top $3.7B for the period, including 10% growth in the US to nearly $2B. Overall net income jumped 24.4% to $243.8M. Organically, PR operations like Ketchum, Porter Novelli and FleishmanHillard climbed 2.5% for the period.
Advertising was up 13.1% to $1.9B for the quarter, while CRM ticked up 2.4% to $1.3B and specialty operations saw a 1.2% gain (-0.1% decline, organically) to $246.3M.
Newly minted CFO Philip Angelastro took part in his first quarterly earnings call in the new post since replacing longtime finance chief Randall Weisenburger. Angelastro said OMC's PR strength for the quarter came from strong performances in the US and Germany.
Other OMC PR units include Mercury, Cone, Kreab Gavin Anderson and Marina Maher.
Omnicom debt stands at $3.8B against $850M in cash and short-term investments. It burned through cash buying back shares -- 11.7M since May -- resulting in "net debt" increase to nearly $3B, up from $2.5B in 2013.
Through the first three quarters, Omnicom's PR operations are up 3.9% (2.6% organically), topping $1B in revenue.
For comparison, OMC took a $28.1M hit during Q3 in 2013 related to its failed merger with Publicis.
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