The numbers
$5.6 billion — Revenue for Omnicom’s “core operations” in the first quarter of 2026, up 6.7% year over year. This represents the businesses the company does not plan to dispose of within the next year.
$5.6 billion — Operating expenses in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of $2.4 billion year over year, mostly related to the IPG acquisition.
$627 million — Revenue from dispositions and assets held for sale related to the IPG acquisition, versus $34.3 million in costs.
14.8% — EBITA margin in Q1, up from 12.4% in Q4 2025.
51.5% — The percentage of revenue integrated media was responsible for in Omnicom’s portfolio in Q1, equivalent to $2.9 billion.
$900 million — Cost-reduction synergies planned for 2026, with a goal of reaching $1.5 billion by mid-2028.
Watercooler talk
Omnicom broke out its first-quarter earnings into its “core operations,” or its current business minus dispositions and companies it plans to sell in the next year.
When Omnicom closed its acquisition of IPG in late 2025, it looked at which businesses will continue to grow and contribute their fair share of margin, as well as which services its clients were asking for, according to CEO John Wren. All other businesses were on the chopping block.
The process resulted in planned sales of businesses with approximately $3.2 billion in annual revenue, of which about $1 billion was disposed of in the first quarter. The plan is to sell the remaining businesses within the next year.
In addition to disposals, Omnicom has merged or sunset more than 20 major agency brands as well as “a long tail of smaller brands” since the acquisition closed, Wren said.
Overall, Omnicom’s goal is for more than half of its revenue to come from “a faster growing integrated media business,” spanning media, commerce, data, CRM, consulting, and content automation, said CFO Phil Angelastro.
