IPG Posts Strong 5.4% Organic Growth In The Third Quarter

Interpublic Group posted organic revenue growth of 5.4% for the third quarter with 5% growth in the U.S., the holding company reported Friday. 

That’s significantly higher than both Omnicom Group and Publicis Groupe, both of which reported Q3 numbers earlier this week. Organic revenue is a key industry growth metric that strips out M&A activity and currency fluctuations. 

Omnicom reported organic growth of 2.9% for the period and just 0.6% growth in the U.S. Publicis Groupe reported 1.3% growth with 1% growth in North America. All three firms were in line with or exceeded Wall Street expectations. 

IPG, which completed its acquisition of big data company Acxiom during the quarter, said net revenue was up 3.4% in Q3 to $1.9 billion. Net income was down 5% to $161 million, which included costs of $18.4 million related to the Acxiom transaction and losses of about $5 million on the disposition of other assets. 

For the first nine months, revenue was up 5.2% to $5.62 billion with organic growth of 4.9%. Net income was $292.7 million, down 3%. 

IPG CEO Michael Roth said he is “extremely pleased” with the company’s results so far for the year adding that the firm was on target to meet previously stated full-year 2018 goals of organic growth of between 4% to 4.5% with profit margin improvement of up to seven-tenths of a percentage point. 

“With the completion of the Acxiom acquisition, we have a strengthened position to help clients succeed in a world where data-driven marketing solutions are increasingly core to brands,” Roth said.

 

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