With contributions across its larger markets and disciplines, Omnicom
reported 5.2% organic revenue growth ($188.3 million) in the second quarter versus the same period in 2023.
Total reported revenue for the period increased $243.9 million, or 6.8%, to nearly $3.9
billion. Acquisition revenue (net of disposition revenue) increased by $93 million (2.6%) and was led primarily by the Flywheel Digital purchase at the beginning of the year.
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Organic growth by region
included 6.3% for the U.S., 4.5% for Europe, 6.9% for the UK, 24.5% for Latin America, and 8.0% for the Middle East & Africa, partially offset by declines of 0.1%
for Asia Pacific and 8.3% for Other North America (primarily Canada).
By disciple, advertising and media—which includes the company’s creative and media agencies-- posted
organic growth of 7.8%. On a call with analysts, CEO John Wren declined to break out the segment further but did say that the “majority of the growth” came from the media side while
collectively the creative agencies posted some growth as well.
Experiential was up 17.6%, boosted significantly by projects related to the Summer Olympics in Paris.
Precision Marketing was
up 1.4%. Wren noted that Flywheel Digital, which is housed within that segment, turned in a significantly stronger performance than the segment overall. He cited the loss of one client but also noted
a major win for the unit—General Motors—which was announced last month. Revenue from that assignment will begin kicking in August, which will help boost the segment’s overall
performance in the second half.
Wren said that clients remain “cautiously optimistic,” about the macroeconomic outlook which he characterized as “more
conservative,” versus the sentiment at the start of the year. He stressed that for now he doesn’t think that the more conservative client views would lead to spending cuts in the second
half. He said that the tempering of optimism was the result of clients that had been expecting certain government actions, like interest rate reductions that haven’t materialized as expected.
Analysts quizzed Wren extensively about the company’s decision in June to consolidate its production operation
with the creation of the new Omnicom Production unit. He stressed that the decision was based more on the sizeable revenue opportunity versus cost savings and suggested that Omnicom could become the
third-ranked production company in the industry within a relatively short period of time. The firm had made plans to consolidate last year, but Sergio Lopez, the former Global CEO of Publicis
Production was restricted from joining the company for six months until June.
Longer term, Wren said the company is focused on transitioning to performance-based revenue models.
“We’ve started on that,” he said. “That’s a journey we are on,” with clients, but one that could take 3 years or more to complete.
The company is standing by
its full-year organic growth forecast of between 4% and 5%.