NEW YORK — Omnicom Group, which owns numerous PR firms including FleishmanHillard, Ketchum and Porter Novelli, has reported that its PR revenues grew 1.8% on an organic basis during Q1 of 2017.

The group's PR revenue reached $325m during the quarter, up 2% on a reported basis, compared to 8.7% growth in the previous quarter. 

On an organic basis, PR lagged all of the group's other units — advertising (+6.2%), specialty (+3.3%) and CRM (+2.1%). Overall, the group grew global revenue by 4.4% on an organic basis for the quarter.

Last year, Omnicom restructured its PR firms to sit under the newly-formed Omnicom PR Group, led by former Porter Novelli CEO Karen van Bergen. The group has found sustained PR growth difficult to achieve in recent years, although it returned to growth in 2016.