Omnicom Group exceeded its full-year 2022 financial forecast, posting 9.4% organic revenue growth after predicting growth of 8% to 8.5%, and targeted organic revenue growth of 3% to 5% for 2023.

In the fourth quarter, the holding company posted 7.2% organic revenue growth. Organic growth factors out acquisitions, divestitures, and effects of exchange rates.

“We remain extremely cautious of macroeconomic and geopolitical factors, including the ongoing war and Ukraine, the economic risks posed by rising interest rates and higher inflation around the world,” said Chairman-CEO John Wren said Tuesday afternoon when the company issued its report.

“We continue to actively develop plans to respond to the headwinds from macro factors and I'm confident we can manage through this economic cycle and we have the leadership teams in place to minimize the impact on our top and bottom lines,” he said.

E-commerce capabilities

On an earnings call, Wren noted that the holding company’s recently launched commerce agency, Transact, “played an instrumental role” in its $1 billion win of  L’Oréal's global media business.

“We've looked at seeing if there was much to acquire throughout 2021 and 2022 but at the same time, because we were a bit hesitant, we started building [Omnicom’s commerce capability]. And so we've been building it for well over two-and-a-half years,” said Wren.

“If you ask us or any of our competitors, [in] every media request for a bid for the last several years, you have to demonstrate to that potential client the strength of your e-commerce capabilities. It’s something that we are focused on, remain focused on, and we think is going to play a very important role in future business not only in 2023 but beyond.”

Omnicom is interested in acquisitions that involve geographic expansion and ones that can enhance the skill sets of its Omnicom Precision Marketing Group and Healthcare unit, he said.

Wren also said he is bullish about recent AI advancements such as ChatGPT and the investments Microsoft has been making in using the tool.

ChatGPT “is a good product, it's not a perfect product. I think when Microsoft really integrates it into its system, it will be able to ramp up,” Wren said. “All of the automation that we're looking at enhances the capabilities and makes the jobs easier for our best and brightest people and it eliminates a lot of the otherwise mundane projects or activities that we also get paid for.”

Omnicom faced expenses related to divestitures (including an exit from Russia) and foreign currency translation. As a result, full-year revenue, after allowing for the effects of acquisitions and divestitures, exchange rates and organic growth, was flat at $14.3 billion compared to 2021. Total fourth-quarter revenue was also flat, at $3.9 billion, after taking those same factors into account.

In the fourth quarter, experiential led all disciplines with organic revenue up 17% from a year earlier. The company's advertising and media sector posted 6% organic revenue growth; Precision Marketing posted an 11.6% rise; PR grew 12.7%; commerce and brand consulting was up 7.2% and healthcare rose 6.4%.

By region, organic revenue rose 5.6% in the U.S., while the U.K. grew 9.9%. Latin America grew 18.2% and Asia Pacific rose 6.9%.

Last week, Publicis Groupe reported that its fourth-quarter net revenue jumped 18% and organic revenue increased by 9.4%. For 2022, Publicis’ net revenue was up almost 20% and its organic revenue rose 10.1%. Like Omnicom, it also predicted single-digit growth for 2023.