Omnicom Posts Solid Q2 Growth As IPG Merger Nears Completion

Omnicom has reported 3 per cent organic revenue growth in the second quarter of 2025, keeping it on track to meet its full-year guidance of 2.5% to 4.5% growth. The holding company generated $4.02 billion in revenue for the quarter, a 4.2% increase year over year, driven by strong performances in Media & Advertising and Precision Marketing.

The quarterly update comes as Omnicom inches closer to finalising one of the most significant deals in advertising history: its proposed acquisition of Interpublic Group (IPG).

The $10 billion mega-merger has reportedly cleared 13 of the 18 regulatory jurisdictions under review, with CEO John Wren confirming the deal remains on track to close in the second half of the year. The transaction, which received conditional approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in June, would reshape the global advertising industry’s competitive landscape by consolidating two of the world’s largest holding companies into a single entity.

“We delivered solid 3.0% organic revenue growth this quarter, even in the face of ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty – underscoring once again the resilience and agility of our business,” Wren said. He described the IPG merger as a “transformational acquisition” and a key driver of future growth.

“We also achieved a key milestone in our transformational acquisition of Interpublic, successfully clearing U.S. antitrust review and moving closer to an expected close later this year. As we look ahead, I am more optimistic than ever about the significant growth opportunities this strategic transaction will create for our people, clients, and shareholders.”

Growth in the quarter was led by Media & Advertising (up 8.2%) and Precision Marketing (up 5.0%), while other disciplines, such as Public Relations (-9.3%), Healthcare (-4.9%), and Branding & Retail Commerce (-16.9%), dragged down the overall performance. Regionally, the strongest growth was seen in Latin America (up 18.0%) and the Asia Pacific (6.5%), with softer results in the U.S. (3.0%) and the UK (-2.5%).

Despite top-line growth, net income declined 21.5% year over year to $257.6 million, likely due to higher costs related to the IPG acquisition ($66 million) and $88.8 million in repositioning charges tied to severance and efficiency initiatives. Operating income dropped nearly 14% to $439.2 million, and margins contracted to 10.9% from 13.2% in the same period last year.

Omnicom’s leadership used the earnings call to highlight recent investments in data and technology, particularly the integration of key assets into its Omni platform. Duncan Painter, CEO of Flywheel, will lead the newly unified data and commerce division post-IPG merger, bringing together capabilities across Omni, OmniAI, Artbot and Flywheel Commerce Cloud.

The company also addressed broader market concerns, including potential impacts of U.S. tariffs on advertising spend and uncertainty stemming from regulatory shifts in healthcare marketing.

While CFO Philip Angelastro acknowledged the macroeconomic headwinds, Wren downplayed fears, saying advertisers are focused on long-term transformation.

“Less uncertainty in the macro environment may allow marketers to normalise spending levels, although it is still too early to say that the uncertainty in the macro environment has been eliminated,” Angelastro said.

“For the whole week, I didn’t hear the word tariff once,” Wren said. He continued: “People were looking past this current situation to the future,” a mindset which he said gives him some optimism moving forward this year.

Technology was a key theme, with Chief Technology Officer Paolo Yuvienco making his first appearance on the earnings call to outline Omnicom’s agentic AI strategy. Yuvienco positioned the company’s proprietary data set as a competitive edge in building marketing automation tools powered by generative AI models like Google’s Veo 3.

“We believe that we sit on effectively the most elite data set in the industry, and our generative AI strategy is grounded in this notion of an agentic framework,” Yuvienco said. “What those agents are allowing us to do is to effectively infuse the intelligence of our elite data set into every facet of the marketing workflow.”

“Wren added that advancements in AI will eventually push the company to evolve its compensation model. “Increasingly, our compensation models will shift to outcomes,” he said.

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