NEW YORK: Omnicom's PR agencies saw revenues of $279.9 million for the third quarter, a 5.1% increase from $266 million in Q3 2009. For the first nine months of the year, revenue for PR was $846.7 million, a 6.1% increase compared to $798 million from the same time last year.
Omnicom's PR firms include Fleishman-Hillard, Porter Novelli, Ketchum, and Cone, among others.
Overall, Omnicom reported revenue of $2.995 billion for the third quarter, a 5.5% increase from $2.838 billion from the same time frame last year. Net income for the quarter increased 5.4%, up from $165.6 million last year to $1.746 million this year.
These results come a year after the holding company reported a 15% drop in revenue for the quarter and a 17% year-over-year decline for the first three quarters. Growth in the US and renewed strength in Europe contributed to the increase in revenue, said John Wren, Omnicom president and CEO, who called this Omnicom's "strongest quarter of the year," in the investor call.
For the year-to-date, revenues were $8.956 billion, a 5.9% increase from $8.455 billion for the first nine months of 2009. Net income was $645.2 million, a 4.9% increase from $614.8 million for the same time last year.
"We have been pleasantly surprised by the continued growth in the US and renewed strengths in Europe's major market," Wren added. "In the US, we are seeing continued growth in our business as the economy slowly recovers. Following the strong growth in the first and second quarters, our third quarter growth was 8.4%, even after accounting for the loss of the Chrysler business."
Ray Kotcher, senior partner and CEO at Ketchum, told PRWeek that the agency had its strongest quarter of the year in Q3.
“We were comfortably above the performance of the PR sector reported by Omnicom,” he said. “We are seeing our clients, particularly our clients who are integrated across practices and geographies, really expanding their business with the agency.” He added that digital, word-of-mouth, technology, and research were all very strong, and that the agency also hired 80 new people in the US during the quarter.
Revenue in the US was $1.62 billion, an 8.4% increase from the third quarter 2009, while year-to-date, US revenue was $4.85 billion. Revenue from the US accounts for 54% of Omnicom's overall revenue.
