Interpublic today reported a 39.6 percent drop in 2Q net income to $94.7M as revenues dipped 1.7 percent to $1.9B.
IPG shares, which hit a 15-year high yesterday are down more than 10 percent to $22.92, on the earnings news.
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The constituency management group, which includes Weber Shandwick, DeVries Global and Golin, reported a six percent dip in revenues to $347M and a 2.2 percent slide on an organic basis.
Andy Polansky, CEO of Weber Shandwick, noted the performance followed high-single growth on as-reported basis and mid-single organic growth last year.
Weber Shandwick reported gains in Europe and Asia during the first-half with healthcare robust and an uptick in employee engagement and corporate consulting services, according to Polansky. DeVries showed nearly double-digit organic growth, while Golin registered mid-single digit organic growth during the first-half.
"Client spending in the quarter reflected increased caution, but we don't see evidence of a broad-based economic downturn,' said CEO Michael Roth of the financial results.
He's confident the ad/PR conglom's investments in digital expertise and data-driven/technology-enabled marketing will help it achieve the low-end of its three to four percent organic growth target for the year.
First-half organic growth clocked in at 1.5 percent overall and 1.7 percent in the US.
Roth said IPG would remain "highly focused on costs, in order to build on our strong record of driving margin improvement."
Institutional Shareholder Services advises investors to vote "no" on a compensation package for WPP chief Cindy Rose at the May 8 annual meeting.
FTI Consulting chalked up a 9.5 percent rise in Q1 revenues to $983.3M, powered by gains in its PR, corporate finance and technology segments.
Stagwell reports 4 percent growth in Q1 net revenues to $585M and a record $141M in net new business wins.
WPP reported a 6.7 percent drop to $3.1B in Q1 like-like revenues less pass-through costs. CEO Cindy Rose says 'it will take time to outpace historical losses."
Omnicom CEO John Wren reports Q1 revenues from “core operations” rose 6.7 percent to $5.6B, driven in part by a 3.9 percent boost in organic growth.
