By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Omnicom stock (NYSE:OMC) rose 7.7% in premarket trading on Wednesday, on course to test a four-year high at the opening, after the group's business continued to flourish in the fourth quarter.
Adjusted profit per share of $1.95 was 6% higher than last year and beat estimates. The group also said it is optimistic about its outlook for the current year.
Organic revenue was up 9.5% over a year earlier, although the reported growth was only 2.6% at $3.9 billion, due to the sale of ICON International, a specialty media business, in June last year.
Its staple business of advertising rose brough in nearly 11% more, excluding the impact of M&A, currency changes and asset sales.
Omnicom, which owns agencies such as BBDO as well as PR outfits Ketchum and Fleishman Hillard, said organic growth across all disciplines and geographies in the period, reflecting an urgency on the part of advertisers to grab their share of buoyant consumer spending in the second half of last year.
In the U.S. and U.K. revenue was up 8%-9% while in Latin America it was up 9.4%. All other markets grew by over 10%, with Middle East and Africa topping the list at 26%.
In percentage terms, experiential or in-person marketing, which also includes its events businesses, grew the most, by 27%, The digital-focused 'precision marketing' business also growing 19% as advertisers worked harder to get around Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s new privacy settings to target their ads.