- David Gianatasio

BOSTON Shrugging off the impact of two key client losses and some slowdown in domestic growth, Omnicom Group, the largest agency holding company, today reported second-quarter net income of $307 million on revenue of $3.48 billion, both gains of approximately 11 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago.

Diluted earnings per share in Q2 rose more than 14 percent to 96 cents compared to the year-ago period.

Organic revenue, which excludes the impact of currency fluctuations and acquisitions, rose about 5 percent.

The overall performance was generally in line with analysts' expectations.

For the first half of the year, Omnicom's posted net income of $516 million on revenue of $6.67 billion, both improvements of about 12 percent from the first half or 2007.

The gains came despite the late-2007 losses of business from AT&T and Dell, the impacts of which were first felt by Omnicom in Q2.

During a conference call with analysts on Tuesday morning, John Wren, the holding company's CEO, said he remains "cautious about the economy" but believes the company is "well positioned" to weather any storms.

One such storm could be on the horizon: a looming U.S. recession presaged by the current economic slowdown.

Omnicom's numbers reflected that reality, with international growth topping 18 percent for Q2, easily outpacing 5.5 percent domestic growth. The company is about evenly split in terms of total overall and international revenue.

During the call, Wren hinted that the slow economy might provide acquisition opportunities, but he did not give specifics and said no deals were on tap in the near term.

Omnicom is the parent of networks such as BBDO, DDB, TBWA and OMD, as well as numerous other holdings worldwide.

MORE ON OMNICOM'S Q2 AND FIRST-HALF PERFORMANCE