Global advertising group Omnicom posted negative organic growth of 9.6% in the December quarter compared to the same three months the year before.
The result, dragged down by the economic impact of the pandemic, was better than expected by market analysts.
Revenue fell 9.3% to $US3.757 billion. Net income was $US398.1 million, down from $US415 million in the fourth quarter of 2019.
For the full year to December, revenue was down 11.9% to $U13.171 billion.
Organic growth by disciplines for the twelve months: Advertising -12.2%, CRM Consumer Experience -15.8%, CRM Execution & Support -15.1%, Public Relations-4.2% and Healthcare -3.3%.
And regional markets: the United States -10.1%, Other North America -10.0%, the United Kingdom -11.5%, the Euro Markets & Other Europe -12.8%, Asia Pacific -8.5%, Latin America -5.1% and the Middle East & Africa -32.3%.
“Overall, while we have a diversified portfolio of service offerings, clients and geographies, demand for our services can be expected to decline as marketers reduce expenditures in the short term due to the uncertain impact of the pandemic on the global economy,” the company says.
“During the second quarter of 2020, we realigned our agencies' cost structures, which included severance actions and furloughs to reduce the workforce, right-of-use asset impairments and other real estate costs, a net loss on the disposition of certain subsidiaries and other charges.
“These COVID-19 repositioning actions were taken to tailor their services and capabilities to changes in client demand.”
The December quarter numbers:
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