Dentsu posted 0.2% organic revenue growth in the June quarter, reporting a higher client pitch win rate but continuing challenges outside Japan.
The result is an improvement on the 3.7% fall posted for the March quarter, dragged down by an underperforming international business.
The company reiterated its full year organic growth guidance of 1% and a 15% operating margin.
The growth result is below that of most of its global peers. WPP recorded June quarter like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs of -0.5%; IPG reported organic revenue growth of 1.7%: Publicis up 5.6%; Omnicom with a better than expected 5.2%; Havas posted negative organic growth of -2.3%;
At dentsu, Japan was up 1.8% in the June quarter, the Americas down 3.7%, EMEA 7.8% higher and APAC dropped 6.2%. Client losses were reported in Australia.
Dentsu has been shedding staff and reorganising across the regions, freezing hiring, cutting external spending and reducing travel and entertainment costs.
"The group has seen continued sequential quarterly improvement with momentum in our client pitch win rate," said CEO Hiroshi Igarashi.
"Over the last six months, we have made decisive progress in aligning our people, brand, and market presence to strengthen our dentsu proposition.
"We have unlocked our collective power and potential by operating as One dentsu, which is beginning to show a positive impact on performance."
He said the June half net new media wins across Americas, EMEA and APAC are the highest for the past five half years.
Japan has seen a recovery in pitch win rates.
"We have accelerated the delivery of Integrated Growth Solutions at a global scale as One dentsu by expanding the Group's outstanding capabilities," Igarashi said.
"We are expanding our BX (business transformation) practice globally, supporting client growth and transformation with our unique consulting approach.
"This expansion will support our differentiated positioning by offering solutions to our clients at the convergence of marketing, technology and consulting. Clients continue to invest in marketing – seeing it as a driver for growth.
"Whilst we remain conscious of the less certain macro environment within which we are operating, with a less confident consumer, we believe clients are continuing to invest in innovation and marketing to drive volume growth within their businesses."
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