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| John Wren |
Omnicom's Q1 revenues inched ahead one percent to $3.4B, while operating profit dipped 1.8 percent to $346M as clients grappled with macroeconomic, technological and social challenges, according to CEO John Wren.
He called OMC’s 5.2 percent organic growth “a solid start to the year.”
The PR group (Ketchum, FleishmanHillard, Porter Novelli, Mercury, Marina Maher Communications) posted 3.6 percent growth to $375.5M. It was up 5.8 percent organically.
During the quarter, OMC recognized the transition to a flexible working environment that allows for partial remote work. It took a $119M pretax charge ($91M after-tax) to reduce and reposition its office lease portfolio.
Looking ahead, Wren expects “organic growth, portfolio enhancement, financial discipline, and thoughtful capital allocation will continue to benefit our clients and our shareholders.”
He projects full-year organic growth from three to five percent.
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.
