Interpublic Group stock falls as U.S. growth slows in second quarter

Interpublic Group of Cos. reported a total net revenue increase of 9.1 percent to $2.3 billion and organic growth of 3 percent for the 2019 second quarter on Tuesday morning.

The holding company posted a further 11 percent spike in net revenue to $4.3 billion and a 4.6 percent organic growth for the first half of the year. Second-quarter 2019 adjusted earnings of 46 cents a share were up from the adjusted earnings of 44 cents a share reported a year ago. The results beat Zacks analysts' predictions which called for adjusted earnings to remain at 44 cents a share for the second quarter.

Still, IPG shares fell more than 2 percent on Tuesday morning as a slowdown in the U.S. appears to be weighing on overall results. The company reported organic growth in the U.S. was a tepid 0.6 percent in the second quarter, compared to last year's 4.6 percent growth for the same period.

"This result reflects growth in the quarter across many of our U.S. agencies and disciplines, slowed by headwinds from the account activity toward the end of last year which we have talked about on previous calls," IPG Chairman and CEO Michael Roth said on a call with investors Tuesday morning.

Last year, UM lost Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to Publicis Groupe's Starcom; McCann saw its U.S. Army account move to Omnicom Group's DDB; and Deutsch lost Volkswagen's North American creative account to WPP. Those losses rolled off during IPG's most recent quarter.

 "The growth we saw despite the headwinds and industry leading comps from last year, along with our win rate this year, demonstrates that our business remains solid," he added.

IPG's "integrated agency networks" segment led by Mediabrands, FCB Health, McCann Worldgroup, R/GA, MullenLowe and Huge grew 3.2 percent in the second quarter. The company saw "strong" performance in client sectors including healthcare, financial services, industrials, consumer goods, tech and retail, according to Roth.

"Looking at the quarter and the first half, our performance means that the year is off to a solid start," he said.

Internationally, organic net revenue rose 6.5 percent in the second quarter. For the first half of the year, organic net revenue was up 3 percent in the U.S. and 7.1 percent internationally. IPG maintained its outlook for the full year that calls for organic growth of 2 to 3 percent and 40 to 50 basis points of margin expansion.

IPG's report follows Publicis last week reporting a 1.7 percent fall in North American revenue for the second-quarter and Omnicom posting a 3.6 percent decline in total revenue for the period. Shares of Publicis and Omnicom continued to fall on Tuesday, by 1 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively, by midday.