IPG sees Q2 decline; APAC revenue contracts 13.6%

Unlike its future acquirer, Omnicom, Interpublic Group reported a 3.5% decline in organic growth in Q2 2025, with Asia Pacific turning in its weakest performance globally—a steep 13.6% year-on-year decline in net revenue

Its revenue in the period, including billable expenses, was $2.5 billion. The decline is in line with IPG forecasts, as first mentioned in its Q1 earnings call. Profits dropped, as the reported net income was $162.5 million. IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky confirmed on today’s earnings call that IPG remains “on track with the full-year target for organic net revenue that we shared earlier this year, which is an organic decrease of 1 to 2%.”

“Organic growth this year is being pressured by the impact of account activity that concluded in 2024,” shared Krakowsky. “As expected, those headwinds intensified sequentially from our first quarter.

“Our three largest losses in 2024 weighed on growth by approximately 5.5% in Q2, which is reflected in our results across a number of geographic regions and disciplines, with the greatest impact on media and healthcare.”

Last year, the network lost the lion’s share of Amazon’s global media account, Lego and global creative duties for Pfizer. Krakowsky confirmed that, despite the “changing business and geopolitical landscape,” clients are not reacting reflexively, but are instead working closely with IPG to deliver on business outcomes.

IPG agencies across media, data and engagement solutions saw a YoY decrease of 3.1%. Integrated advertising and creativity-led solutions agencies saw a drop of 6.3%. Specialised communications and experiential solutions, such as Weber Shandwick, Golin, and experiential agencies, saw a 2.3% uptick.

IPG Mediabrands also won significant new accounts in Q2: It was named media AOR for the U.S. by Paramount/CBS (along with Publicis), AI leader Anthropic and 7-Eleven. The network also confirmed a three-year renewal with its client, Merck.

CFO Ellen Johnson provided an in-depth look at the results, stating international markets accounted for 34% of IPG’s net revenue in the quarter and decreased 5.4% organically. 

Regions that saw a decrease in net revenue include the U.S., the U.K., Continental Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The U.S., which contributed 66% of net revenue in Q2, decreased 2.6% organically. The U.K. reported a 9.7% decrease, while Continental Europe saw a 1.6% decrease. The Asia Pacific region experienced the largest decrease, at 13.6%.

Only Latin America and other markets, such as Canada, the Middle East, and Africa, saw an increase in net revenue.

IPG reported strong performance across the food and beverage, financial services and tech sectors. Prior-period losses weighed on the retail, healthcare, and CPG client sectors. 

There is a continued focus on integrating AI into IPG's workflow, as seen in IPG’s Interact, an Acxiom-powered platform that unites data, media, creative, and production across all the holding company’s agencies and clients. IPG stated 40% of IPG employees are utilising the platform.

Additionally, the holding company flagged an announcement coming later today that it is launching Agentic Systems for Commerce. “This is a net new offering that helps CPG brands manage the vast and complex commerce ecosystem in ways that are not possible without automation and artificial intelligence,” stated Krakowsky.

In line with Omnicom CEO John Wren’s comments during his holdco’s Q2 earnings report last week, Krakowsky confirmed the acquisition is on schedule to be completed in the second half of 2025. Antitrust clearance was secured in Australia last week and now four jurisdictions remain.