• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, April 18, 2013

Omnicom Group reported roughly flat net income for the first quarter of 2013 at $205 million on a 2.8% revenue increase to almost $3.4 billion.

The company posted organic revenue growth in the period of 2.9% worldwide. Organic growth was higher in the U.S. at 4.1%, while in countries with Euro currencies, an organic revenue decline of 3.7% was recorded.

On a conference call with analysts and investors Thursday morning, Omnicom CEO John Wren said that “2013 is off to a good start” relative to the company’s expectations for the year. Those expectations include 2013 organic revenue growth of between 3% and 3.5%. Wren said Asia and Latin America continue to show “strong growth," while the U.S. is “steady.”

By comparison, Publicis Groupe, reporting earlier in the week said its organic revenue growth worldwide was 1.3%, but better in North America, where growth was 4.4%. In Europe, Publicis was expecting a decline similar to what Omnicom reported, but actually did worse: posting a 6.5% drop in the region. One difference—Publicis has more business overall in Europe.

Europe remains the one troubled region, Wren said. In the first quarter, setbacks in France and Germany were large contributors to the company’s decline in the area. And while he sees a turnaround at some point, he stressed that it is difficult to predict if the region will get back on track in a quarter or two or take a year or longer to regain full economic health. “We expect volatility [in the region] to continue,” he said.

By business sector, the company’s advertising segment turned in the best organic growth performance at 6.1%. Within that segment, said Omnicom CFO Randall Weisenburger, media was particularly strong.

Weisenburger told analysts on the conference call that net new business for the quarter totaled about $1 billion worldwide, with lots of smaller “six-figure wins” and “no real big wins or losses in the quarter.” Omnicom said it posted EBITDA of $397 million for the quarter, up 11.7%. First quarter operating profit margin slipped slightly to 10.9% from 11% in the first quarter of 2012.

By category, Omnicom said auto and financial were weaker performing sectors. Stronger performing sectors included consumer products and technology. Auto was essentially flat for quarter. “Flat is not stellar but flat is not bad,” Weisenburger said.

In March, Chevrolet stripped Goodby Silverstein & Partners of its creative ad duties for Chevrolet, which it had shared with Interpublic’s McCann-Erickson in a joint venture called Commonwealth. Wren said the loss would not have a “material” impact on Omnicom’s 2013 financial results. He expressed confidence that Goodby would win another car account, given its experience in the sector.

In early Thursday morning trading, Omnicom shares were down 1.5% to $58.37.

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