NEW YORK — Omnicom on Tuesday reported that PR revenue was down 1.1% in the first quarter of 2024, marking the third consecutive quarterly loss for the group.

During Q1, Omnicom PR Group — which includes FleishmanHillard, Ketchum and Porter Novelli —  performed poorer than the holding company’s four disciplines that saw revenue increases including advertising & media (7%), precision marketing (4.3%), experiential (9.5%) and healthcare (2%). Disciplines that saw losses include execution and support (4.3%) and branding & retail commerce (3.8%).

In its earnings report, the company reported Omnicom as a whole saw worldwide revenue grow 5.4% to $3.63 billion. Revenue grew 4% on an organic basis. 

Acquisition revenue, net of disposition revenue, increased revenue by $53 million, or 1.5%, primarily due to the acquisition of the precision marketing group’s acquisition of Flywheel Digital. The impact of foreign currency translation reduced revenue by $2.7 million, or 0.1%.

Organic growth by region in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023 was as follows: 4.3% for the United States, 3.5% for Euro Markets & Other Europe, 22.3% for Latin America, 3.0% for Asia Pacific, 3.2% for the United Kingdom, and 1.1% for Other North America. The Middle East & Africa saw a 4.2% decline.

“Omnicom began the year with solid organic revenue growth of 4.0%, led by continued strength in our advertising & media and precision marketing disciplines, including Flywheel Digital,” chairman and CEO John Wren said in a statement. “We are uniquely able to combine marketing and sales solutions with a seamless set of information signals to turn our award-winning creativity into measurable dynamic business outcomes for our clients.  Our industry-leading tools and platforms, combined with the strength of our operating leadership, has led to our excellent new business performance and, when combined with the new opportunities we are pursuing, give us great confidence in the future.”

Q1 2024  saw the third quarterly loss for OMPG, whose revenue dropped 2.9% in Q4 2023 and 5.5% in Q3 — the first quarterly decline the group had experienced since Q1 2021

The Q3 revenue decline followed a flat Q2, which capped eight consecutive quarters of PR growth, having seen a 5.8% increase in Q1, 12.7% in Q4 2022, a 12.6% increase in Q3 2022, a 15.8% increase in the second quarter of 2022, a 14% increase in Q1 2022, a 4.4% increase in Q4 2021, a 10.5%. increase in revenue during Q3 2021 and 15.1% growth in revenue during the second quarter of the year — a turnaround from the 3.5% decline the PR group experienced in the first quarter of 2021.