• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, March 2, 2021

MDC Partners posted a pandemic-related 14% dip in Q4 revenue to $328 million and a 15% decline for full-year 2020 revenue to $1.2 billion. The Q4 organic revenue decline was 13.7%, while the full-year decline was 13.9%.

The good news: the company saw sequential improvement in the second half, with Q4 revenues up 15.8% higher than Q3.

And as with other holding companies, the outlook for 2021 is a return to growth.

MDC is currently projecting organic growth of between 7% and 9% for the full year.

The company recorded net new business in the fourth quarter of $29.5 million and $90.3 million for the full year.

Company CEO Mark Penn noted that the company “continued to see a rebound from pandemic lows, with strong sequential improvement in revenue driven by double-digit growth in most client sectors led by consumer products, technology and healthcare.”

The company took an impairment charge in Q4 that along with the revenue decline and a income tax valuation allowance led to a net loss of $237 million in the period and $243 million for the full year.

The company's previously announced merger with Stagwell is expected to close in the first half of the year.