IPG Q2: PR Revenue Up 6.7%

Interpublic Group of Cos.' (IPG) posted solid Q2 earnings today, beating analyst expectations. The holding company reported profit of $82.5 million, up from $27.8 million from the same period last year. Revenue increased almost 10% to $1.62 billion. In Q1 2010, IPG reported slightly increased revenue, but also a loss of $64.6 million. The Constituency Management Group (CMG), which houses Golin Harris, MWW Group and Weber Shandwick reported revenue of $ 242.0 million, up 6.7% from the $226.2 million reported for the same period in 2009, and up approximately 9% from the $221.8 million reported in Q1 2010. CMG revenues for the first half of the year were $463.8 million, up 6.2% compared to $436.6 million for the first half of 2009. "At CMG, we are fortunate to have exceptional agencies such as Weber Shandwick and Golin Harris in the PR space that consistently deliver great thinking and programs to our clients. Our results demonstrate that we are winning share in this space. We are also seeing a great deal of digital activity in PR and all of the marketing services agencies within CMG are building best-in-class social media and word-of-mouth practices," said IPG CEO Michael Roth on a conference call. "What we're seeing is a real return to growth," said Harris Diamond, Weber Shandwick and CMG CEO in an interview with PRNewser today. "These numbers far exceeded what I would have projected in December," he said. Diamond also added that growth still came primarily from existing clients, although new business started to pick up in the latter part of May into June. He also added that social media is "driving a large part of incremental spend" by clients. We've posted the company's investor presentation after the jump. IPG Q2 2010

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IPG Q2: PR Revenue Up 6.7%

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