Omnicom revenue beats as N America ad spending rises

Reuters: Omnicom Group Inc, the biggest US advertising company, reported quarterly revenue that beat analysts’ average estimate, helped by a rise in spending in North America.

The company, owner of agencies such as BBDO Worldwide, TBWA Worldwide and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, also benefited from a lower-than-expected impact from a strong dollar.

Revenue from North America rose 5.9% in the second quarter ended June.

Omnicom, whose clients include Apple Inc, McDonald’s Corp and Adidas, said a strong dollar reduced worldwide revenue by 7.1%, lower than the 7.5% it forecast in April.

A 9% rise in the dollar in the first quarter crimped revenue at almost all US companies with international businesses, leading to conservative forecasts for the rest of the year.

The currency fell 3% in the three months ended June.

Omnicom’s worldwide revenue fell 1.7% to $3.81 billion.

Excluding the impact of the dollar and acquisitions, revenue rose 5.3%.

Net income available to common shareholders fell to $310.0 million from $318.9 million a year earlier.

However, earnings per share rose to $1.26 from $1.23 due to fewer shares outstanding in the latest quarter.

Analysts on average expected earnings of $1.22 per share on revenue of $3.76 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.