IPG closed the year out strong, with the holding company’s organic net revenue growing by 2.9% year-over-year in Q4 and 3.3% for the 2019 full year.
“Our results again demonstrate the strength of our client-centric, integrated model,” Michael Roth, chairman and CEO of IPG, said in a release accompanying the results. “Our differentiated culture and strategy are key reasons our long-term trajectory has been so strong.”
Organic net revenue for the company’s All Other Markets segment (which includes the company’s operations in Canada, Africa and the Middle East) was up by 4.7% in Q4; for the full year, organic revenue in that segment grew by 4.6%.
Roth noted that IPG’s 2020 targets include an organic growth of 3% and to further improve EBITA margin by an additional 20 basis points. During IPG’s investor call on Wednesday, Roth said IPG has continued its investment in talent across its agencies, as well as various tools in areas such as digital, data services and analytics, strategy and creative – partially due to the company’s ongoing integration of data and technology agency Acxiom across its agencies.
IPG’s top performing client sectors were technology and telecom, financial, healthcare, retail, and food and beverage. Auto was the only client sector that didn’t grow last year. In particular, Roth noted that the Mediabrands division posted particularly strong results to close 2019, as did FCB and McCann.
Other IPG agencies in Canada include Huge, Weber Shandwick and Golin.
