Interpublic’s Constituency Management Group unit witnessed a 0.9 percent decline in total and organic revenue during 2016’s fourth quarter, posting $399 million for Q4 compared to $402 million the year prior.

CMG, which includes PR agencies Golin, Weber Shandwick and DeVries, still managed to close the year on positive note, posting total revenue gains of 4 percent to $1.5 billion for 2016, up from $1.47 billion in 2015. Organic revenue was up 3.6 percent.

IPG

Weber Shandwick CEO Andy Polansky said PR firms across the CMG portfolio continued to outperform the market in 2016, with PR firms within IPG's CMG group posting organic growth in the mid-single-digit range in Q4 2016.

“Weber Shandwick saw mid-single digit organic growth in Q4 and 2016 overall, on top of double-digit organic growth in 2015. This marks 28 straight quarters — seven years — of consecutive growth,” Polansky said. “Fifteen markets across Weber Shandwick’s expansive global network saw double-digit growth in 2016, driven in part by strong performance from the firm’s consumer and healthcare practices. Golin and DeVries Global are poised for a strong 2017, following a number of account wins in the fourth quarter.”

Polansky also said Weber Shandwick's digital, social media and content capabilities helped drive more than 30 percent of the agency's revenue last year.

Overall, IPG saw revenues of $7.85 billion for the year, a 3.1 percent gain from 2015’s $7.61 billion, with organic revenue up 5 percent from the prior-year period. Fourth quarter revenue was $2.26 billion, also up 3.1 percent from last year’s fourth quarter, with organic revenue gains of 5.3 percent.

Revenue performance at the ad/PR holding company was more impressive internationally than it was in the U.S. Growth was especially strong in the U.K., where organic revenues surged 11.7 percent for the quarter and 8.5 percent for the year. Overall, continental Europe witnessed organic revenue growth of more than 11 percent in Q4 and 5.7 percent for all of 2016. Asia Pacific was also a strong performer for the quarter, up 7.5 for the three months ending December 31, if only posting 1.7 percent gains for the year. By comparison, organic revenue growth in the United States was only 3.3 percent and 4.4 percent for all of 2016.

Full year net income was $609 million in 2016, a major leap from 2015’s $455 million. Net income for the fourth quarter was $318 million, up from $260 million in 2015’s Q4.

Operating income for Q4 was $485 million, a gain of 6.3 percent from the same quarter a year prior. Operating income for the year was $938 million, a gain of 7.6 percent from $871.9 million in 2015.

“Across the board, 2016 was a successful year, in which we posted strong financial results, continued to build our digital and integrated offerings, and garnered the highest level of recognition for the creativity and effectiveness of our work in over a decade,” IPG chairman and CEO Michael Roth said in an earnings statement.

Roth said IPG has targeted organic revenue growth between three and four percent for the upcoming year.