IPG reports slowing Q3 organic growth
Interpublic’s Q3 organic growth came in at 5.6% with net revenue up just 1.5% from 2021, suggesting that US-based holding companies are already feeling the effects of the global slowdown.
IPG lags fellow US-based rival Omnicom on 7.7% and seemingly gravity-defying Publicis on 10.3%. The US is French-based Publicis’ biggest market.
CEO Philippe Krakowsky (above) says: “Third quarter performance was highlighted by solid revenue growth in all world regions, and driven by contributions from across our portfolio, whether viewed by segments, agencies or marketing disciplines. For the quarter, organic growth was 5.6%, on top of 15.0% a year ago, which brings our three-year growth stack to 16.9%.
“Embedding digital across the portfolio and adding a layer of data and tech to our offerings have been important parts of our playbook, as has our commitment to strong agency brands and industry-leading talent. Our people are delivering marketing and media solutions that bring together creativity, technology and data in ways that drive growth for our clients and as we look to the future, an important area of focus will continue to be commerce and business transformation work.
“Despite heightened macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty, we are upgrading our expectation for organic growth for the full year to 7%. With growth at that level, we expect to achieve adjusted EBITA margin of 16.6%. As we further evolve our offerings and align our portfolio in the service of clients, we see significant opportunity to keep creating value for all of our stakeholders.”
Pretty optimistic then but all these Q3 results are the calm before the storm as inflation bites and geopolitical clouds gather. WPP’s results will be keenly watched – will it be on a par with IPG and Omnicom or match high-flying Publicis?
