Omnicom beats by $0.04, beats on revs
Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.30 per share, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.26; revenues rose 3.4% year/year to $4.2 bln vs the $4.15 bln consensus.
Domestic revenue for the fourth quarter of 2014 increased 8.8% to $2,239.1 million compared to $2,058.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2013. International revenue decreased 2.2% to $1,956.0 million compared to $1,999.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.
FT Comment :
Higher ad spending in the US and UK lifted Omnicom revenues and profit in the fourth quarter, capping a strong year for the US advertising holding company despite the collapse of its planned $35bn merger with France's Publicis.
Net income rose 9.7 per cent to $329.5m, or $1.30 a share, from $330.5m, or $1.13 a share, a year ago.
That beat analysts' expectations of $1.26 a share. Revenue increased 3.4 per cent to $4.2bn, compared with estimates of $4.15bn, reports Shannon Bond, US media and marketing correspondent.
Organic revenue grew 5.9 per cent, boosted by 8.5 per cent growth in advertising and a 9.4 per cent lift in its specialty communications business. Organic revenue was up 8.3 per cent in North America and 6.2 per cent in the UK.
Foreign exchange rates weighed, however, dragging organic revenue down 3.1 per cent in the quarter.
For the full year, net income increased 11.4 per cent to $1.1bn, or $4.24 a share, from $991m, or $3.71 a share in 2013, on a 5 per cent gain in revenue to $15.3bn. Organic revenue growth in 2014 of 5.7 per cent was ahead of the 5 per cent the company had targeted.
Omnicom booked $8.8m in pre-tax charges related to the merger with Publicis, which was called off in May after the companies clashed over culture, leadership and tax and regulatory hurdles.