Omnicom Group's CEO Discusses Q4 2011 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

I'd also like to remind you that during the course of the call, we will discuss some non-GAAP measures in talking about Omnicom's performance. You can find a reconciliation of those measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures in the presentation materials.

We're going to begin the call with some brief remarks from John Wren. And following John's remarks, we'll review our financial information for the quarter, and then both John and I will be happy to take questions.

John Wren

Good morning. I'm pleased to speak to you this morning about our latest business results, the progress we've made in 2011 against our key strategic initiatives and my thoughts for 2012.

Thanks to an exceptional list of clients and the commitments, talent and creativity of our people, we have generated very strong results throughout 2011, and we end the year extremely well positioned for future growth. We recognize the global economy is operating in 3 speeds. As the European downturn continues to unfold, it's impact, for now, is limited to Europe. Despite these problems, we continue to see significant opportunities for growth.

Amidst the uncertainty, we continue to focus on the things we, at Omnicom, can control. First, let me speak about the fourth quarter and 2011. Organic growth in the fourth quarter was up 5.2%. This reflected strong performance even in the face of difficult year-over-year comps. Our fourth quarter was driven by strong results across both disciplines and markets with the notable exception of euro markets, where growth was negative for the quarter. For the full year, organic growth was 6.1%.

In the quarter, we continue to expand our presence in key emerging markets. We announced the acquisition of a majority stake in the Mudra group, one of India's leading integrated marketing communication companies, and we completed transactions in Turkey and South Africa. These transactions helped us build our capabilities and expand our base of talent in these key markets.

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