Art & Commerce

September Song Acquisitions, new-account wins and a robust business environment helped the four largest publicly owned U.S.-based advertising shops post double-digit percentage revenue gains in the September quarter. Without exception, the increased revenue drove profits higher. And there’s more good news: These companies’ margins are still expanding, which means that even though costs are going up, they’re rising slower than commission and fee income. If management can keep that bit of magic alive in the December period, profit results could be especially good, since the fourth quarter is almost always the year’s biggest in terms of volume.