17249: Retorting & Reporting.

 

Adweek spotlighted griping from Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun, who publicly pressured Omnicom to report its financials like the other holding companies (Omnicom currently reports gross revenue while rivals report net revenue). Oddly enough, Sadoun said if Omnicom does not change its reporting, Publicis Groupe will proceed to mimic the soon-to-be-biggest White holding company and report gross revenues too.

 

Don’t expect Sadoun’s suggestion to get placed on Omnicom CEO John Wren’s to-do list—alongside maintaining his Pioneer of Diversity status.

 

It all sounds like sour grapes between ex-lovers…?

 

Arthur Sadoun Urges Omnicom to Report Financials Like The Other Big Four Holdcos 

 

Publicis Groupe CEO criticizes ‘apples and oranges’ accounting ahead of Omnicom’s IPG takeover

 

By Rebecca Stewart

 

Arthur Sadoun is putting public pressure on competitor Omnicom to report its financials the same way the other Big Four holding companies do.

 

Ahead of Omnicom’s takeover of Interpublic Group (IPG), set to close this month, Sadoun called for the U.S.-based ad network to report net revenue, rather than gross revenue, in its financial updates. 

 

Sadoun said Omnicom’s current approach makes it “impossible” to compare its performance at a market level: “When Omnicom becomes the largest player, apples and oranges accounting has to end, to increase investor trust in the industry,” he said in a speech during Morgan Stanley’s European Tech, Media, and Telecom (TMT) conference in Barcelona on Nov. 12.

 

“What wasn’t a problem when they were a distant third will become one now. Investors and shareholders need transparent, comparable performance metrics across the industry,” he added. 

 

The Publicis Groupe CEO urged Omnicom to report net revenue, as WPP, Dentsu, Havas, Publicis, and IPG, which will soon represent 40% of the “new Omnicom,” all do. 

 

Sadoun stated that if Omnicom doesn’t bring its accounting in line with its peers, Publicis will start reporting both gross and net indicators for “a couple of quarters” before moving fully to gross.

 

When approached by ADWEEK, Omnicom declined to comment.

 

What does it mean?

 

Based on 2023 figures, the combined Omnicom-IPG would generate approximately $25.6 billion in gross revenue, making it the largest of the “Big Four” ad networks.

 

Currently, Omnicom reports gross revenue, which includes client billings and pass-through costs. Its peers, meanwhile, publish net revenue figures, which exclude these costs to show only what the agencies actually earn for their services.

 

Sadoun believes Omnicom should measure its performance on the same basis as its competitors to give a clearer picture of how its IPG acquisition is performing. 

 

Brian Wieser, founder of strategic advisory and consulting firm Madison and Wall, told ADWEEK he would be surprised if Omnicom changed its financial reporting following pressure from Sadoun.

 

However, he agreed that Omnicom’s preferred way of reporting is “misleading” and makes any comparison between industry figures “untrustworthy.”

 

Wieser said the reporting discrepancy also comes at a cost. “When companies don’t report in a clear way, they make it harder for analysts to understand them, and when they become too hard to understand, investors and analysts will spend less time looking at them, resulting in a reduction of interest in the sector. That means there’s less capital going into these companies.”

 

In Q3 2025, Omnicom reported gross revenue of $4 billion. 

 

Publicis reported a 3.1% increase in net revenue, reaching $3.9 billion in the same quarter, while WPP posted an 11.1% decline in revenue, less pass-through costs. IPG’s total revenue before billable expenses was $2.14 billion in Q3.