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| Philippe Krakowsky |
Interpublic reported flat Q3 net revenues (+0.6 percent) of $2.3B as its financial performance did not live up to expectations, said CEO Philippe Krakowsky.
He cited lagging activity in the technology and telecom sectors, and clients delaying projects due to concerns over the macroeconomic conditions as crimping Interpublic’s onboarding of new business.
“We are focused on closing the year as strongly as possible and, specific to areas of underperformance, will simultaneously assess internal structural solutions in order to improve our growth profile,” said Krakowsky.
He projects 1 percent organic growth during Q4, compared to the 0.4 percent decline in Q3.
Krakowsky called PR a positive contributor to growth during the period.
On the PR front, IPG’s specialized communications & experiential solutions division, which includes Weber Shandwick, Golin, Current Global, R&CPMK, DeVries Global, Jack Morton, Momentum, and DXTRA Health, reported 7.7 percent growth to $371.3M. It was up 6.5 percent organically.
The unit registered 4 percent growth to $1.1B for the nine-month period, and a 4.5 percent advance on an organic basis.
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.
