Publicis CEO hits out at Omnicom’s ‘apples and oranges’ approach on revenue

Publicis Groupe has called on arch-rival Omnicom to change how it reports its organic growth and start disclosing net revenue, instead of gross revenue.

Arthur Sadoun, the chief executive of Publicis, noted Omnicom is the only agency holding company among the current “big six” groups to report gross figures—without deducting pass-through costs to produce a net revenue figure.

That is like “apples and oranges accounting” because it means it is “impossible” for investors and analysts to compare Omnicom’s performance precisely with its agency peers, Sadoun told a Morgan Stanley conference in Barcelona.

A number of leading analysts say net revenues are a more accurate measure of growth as they do not include pass-through costs that are directly billable to clients.

Sadoun insisted Omnicom’s longstanding practice of not disclosing net revenues “has to end” now as the US holding company is about to become the world’s largest agency group, after completing its acquisition of Interpublic at the end of November.

When Omnicom used to be the third largest agency group, it “wasn’t a problem” that it reported only gross revenue, Sadoun maintained, but “when Omnicom becomes the largest player, apples and oranges accounting has to end, to increase investor trust in the industry”.

He explained that Omnicom would allow more “transparent, comparable metrics” by reporting organic net revenue growth and noted IPG already reports net revenues.

“If they [Omnicom] continue to ignore industry norms, Publicis will have no alternative but to report in gross too, so that the outcomes of our different strategies can be measured accurately,” he said.

Omnicom, which is led by John Wren, the chief executive, declined to comment when Campaign asked for a response to Sadoun’s comments.

However, the US agency group has given no indication that it plans to move from reporting gross revenues, even though IPG does disclose net revenues.

Phil Angelastro, the chief financial officer, signalled Omnicom was likely to stick to gross revenue when asked about a potential shift to net revenue at its annual results in February. “I don’t think the expectation is that we’re going to change our approach in the near future,” he said on an earnings call.

Publicis could switch to reporting gross revenue

Omnicom’s likely decision to ignore Sadoun’s call and to continue reporting gross revenues could pave the way for Publicis to change its own financial reporting. Sadoun said that if Publicis made a shift, it would report in both gross and net for several quarters to show “full transparency” next year.

He insisted Publicis would prefer Omnicom to disclose net revenue. “It would be better for Omnicom to adapt to the industry norms, rather than everyone else changing how they report, as it’s easier for everyone, starting with the financial market,” he said.

Most agency groups, including WPP and Publicis, started to disclose net revenues or revenues less pass-through costs in the years before the pandemic, partly in response to calls from investors.

Sadoun’s decision to speak out now on the issue appears to be designed to put pressure on Omnicom, just weeks before Wren is set to close the IPG deal.

In his presentation at the Morgan Stanley European technology, media and telecoms conference, Sadoun also said Publicis was on course to hit the higher end of its recently upgraded Q3 guidance, with annual net revenue growth now expected to be close to 5.5%, which means it is set to extend its gap over WPP and IPG as both have reported declining net revenues.

Publicis reported 5.7% organic growth in net revenues in Q3 in October. Omnicom reported growth of 2.6% on a gross revenue basis for the same period, although analysts at Madison & Wall estimated its net growth was “probably closer to flat” because its pass-through costs “spiked” in the quarter.

IPG shrank 2.9% and WPP fell 5.9% in Q3.

Publicis has been the best performer of the big agency groups since the pandemic and has become the world’s most valuable agency group, overtaking WPP by net revenue and headcount.

However, the enlarged Omnicom, including IPG, would have about $26bn of revenues versus $19bn for Publicis, based on 2024 numbers.

Most agency groups have seen share prices decline in 2025, partly over investor fears about the impact of artificial intelligence on the sector.