Omnicom reported a 1.6% gain in total revenue for the first quarter to $3.69 billion, with organic growth of 3.4%. The U.S. -- the company’s largest region -- was up 4.6%.  

Omnicom was the second major holding company to report Q1 results today. Earlier, Publicis Groupe reported organic growth of 4.9%. But the comparison is not exact because Publicis reports net organic growth which excludes pass-through costs such as those related to principal-based trading.

Omnicom does not disclose net organic revenue figures, which would be lower.  

Omnicom shares rose fractionally during the trading day, but fell nearly 4% in after-hours trading after it released its results.  

Company Chairman and CEO John Wren said the results were in line with expectations.   

But noting the increased macroeconomic uncertainties since the beginning of the year (Trump’s new tariff program), the company widened the range of its organic growth outlook for the year from 3.5%-4.5% to 2.5%-4.5%. 

On a call with analysts, both Wren and company CFO Phil Angelastro said that the expanded guidance window was not the result of any clients indicating plans to cut spending at this time.

Wren said the firm was being “conservative in lowering the bottom end” of the guidance range given the current uncertainty.  

He also said the decision to make the change specifically did not reconsider the prospects of media, which was up 7% for the quarter and is expected to remain strong. Creative advertising was down slightly during the quarter but is expected to improve throughout the year and remains “at the core of what we do.” 

But when asked specifically about the “tone of business” for the automobile and CPG categories given the potential impact that proposed tariffs could have on those sectors, Wren replied, “it’s still an open question.” But the 90-day pause that the administration has put on implementing many of the proposed tariffs “bodes better than had they gone into [immediate effect],” said Wren.  

If the tariffs do present issues for car clients (like Nissan and Volkswagen among others) “as good partners, we will work with them as best as we can,” said Wren. 

Clients across the firm’s portfolio are “looking for more clarity and more flexibility at this time,” added Angelastro. “The type of spend may change and evolve,” he added. “We’ll know more in the near future.” 

As to the proposed merger with IPG, the firm has received regulatory clearance from 5 of the 18 jurisdictions the companies need clearance from, including China, which as Wren noted on the call had been one of the more difficult clearances to obtain more than a decade ago when Omnicom and Publicis Groupe attempted a merger (which both sides mutually agreed to call off). Colombia, Brazil, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have also given the okay for the combination to proceed.  

Wren said the two companies are making progress in mapping out the integration of the two firms and have “clearer sight” on much of the $750 million in synergy costs that the combination is expected to generate. Closing is still expected in the second half of the year. Q1 expenses related to the merger totaled $33.8 million. 

When pressed about potential client defections, Wren asserted it was not a real issue, but instead, “nonsense fed by my competitors to the trade rags.”  No clients, he added, have said they are leaving due to the transaction. 

The firm’s precision marketing division was up 5.8% for the quarter. Commerce and retail marketing unit Flywheel Digital’s performance was described by Wren as “good,” albeit underperforming a bit versus expectations while other areas within the division overperformed.  

PR was down given the lack of project opportunities available during last year’s election cycle. Experiential also slumped somewhat versus last year which presented Olympic-related projects. 

Healthcare was also down and still cycling through a major loss last year (Pfizer) and is expected to improve in the second half.