• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, May 15, 2017

Dentsu Group reported today that its first-quarter gross profit (revenue less direct costs) was down about 1% to roughly $1.91 billion (at today’s exchange rate) given currency fluctuations during the period, particularly the strengthening of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar.

The group posted organic growth (which excludes the impact of acquisitions, asset sales and currency fluctuations) of 3.9%, which was in line with the organic growth it reported for the fourth quarter of last year.

Dentsu Aegis Network, which oversees the holding company’s operations outside of Japan posted organic growth of 3.1%.

In the Americas, organic growth lagged at 0.6%, an improvement from the year-ago period of a 2% decline in organic gross profits.

The firm didn’t break out organic growth for the U.S., but did report that overall gross profit was up double digits, partly attributable to its acquisition of a majority stake in Merkle last August.

Organic growth in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region was 5.8% and in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan) it reached 4.5%. Organic growth in Japan was 4.7%.