• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, October 17, 2017

For the second straight quarter, Omnicom reported a revenue decline -- this time for the third quarter: 1.9% to $3.79 billion. In the second quarter, the revenue decline was 2.4%. Net income for the third quarter was up 3.9% to $263.6 million.

Organic growth in the third quarter was 2.8%, down from the 3.5% growth reported in the second quarter. Through the first nine months, organic revenue growth was 3.5%, down from the 3.9% reported for the first half of the year.

The company attributed the third-quarter revenue decline to a decrease in M&A activity as well as to the sale of some underperforming assets that the company had indicated it was looking to sell. Revenue through the first nine months remains in negative territory, down 0.7% to around $11.1 billion -- partly due to the impact of foreign exchange rates.

Organic growth in North America picked up slightly to reach 2.1% in the third quarter compared to the very weak 0.2% growth posted in the second quarter. The UK hummed along at 3.8%, and Europe turned in a solid 7.8% organic growth return. But APAC was tepid at 1.4%, while Latin America fell 5.4% and the Middle East and Africa region was down 1.6%.