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| Michael Roth |
Interpublic today reported Q4 revenue grew 1.6 percent to $2.9B, while net income was flat at $328.9M.
Organic growth jumped 2.9 percent, divided between 2.1 percent in the US and 4.1 percent overseas.
CEO Michael Roth said the Q4 performance reflected IPG’s strength in its “client-centric, integrated model and the quality of its offerings.”
For the full-year, IPG recorded a 5.2 percent hike in revenues to $10.2B and a 6.0 percent rise in net to $656M.
Organic revenues advanced 3.3 percent with the 1.9 percent and 5.1 percent split between the US and overseas, respectively.
Roth is shooting for 2020 organic growth of three percent. He believes IPG can stand out in the “increasingly crowed and complex environment” due to its portfolio of companies that combine “marketing expertise and future-facing media, data and technology capabilities.”
IPG’s PR group (Golin, DeVries Global, PMK-BMC, Current Global, Weber Shandwick), was “up slightly on both a reported and organic basis,” during Q4, Andy Polansky, CEO of the constituency management group, told O’Dwyer’s. The group recorded low-single digit reported and organic growth for 2019.
Polansky said the technology, food & beverage and healthcare sectors showed strong growth for Q4 and for all of 2019.
He said PR operation is well-positioned for growth in 2020 due to its solid practice groups and ability to work collaboratively with other CMG members (Octagon, Jack Morton, Futurebrand) under IPG’s open architecture model.
The CMG unit posted $1.3B in revenues during 2019.
Public Policy Holding Company registered 23.8 percent Q3 growth to $48.8M, with organic growth contributing 4.5 percent and the balance driven by merger & acquisition activity.
Publicis Groupe reported 3.1 percent in Q3 growth to $4B, sparked by a 3.6 percent jump North America, its biggest market.
WPP suffered a 10.2 percent drop in 1H revenues to $6.7B and a 47.8 percent plunge in operating profit to $297M.
Interpublic reported Q2 net revenues dropped 6.6 percent to $2.2B and operating income tumbled 23.4 percent to $243.7M. 
WPP has adopted a gloomier profit and sales forecast due to a deteriorating Q2 financial performance triggered by weak client spending as companies cope with the challenging economic backdrop.
