Marketing firm Dentsu Aegis's profits up by a third in Q1
Dentsu's London-based digital marketing subsidiary, Dentsu Aegis, reported profit growth of 32.8%, equating to 3.1% organic growth in Q1 2017. It experienced organic growth of 5.8% in the EMEA area (compared with last year's 10.7% growth), 4.5% in APAC (excluding Japan) and 0.6% in the Americas. Dentsu Aegis made acquisitions in Switzerland, Indonesia and Sri Lanka in the first quarter of the year, as the firm strives to become 100% digital by 2020.
Dentsu Aegis CEO Jerry Buhlmann

Dentsu Aegis, the London-based media and digital marketing subsidiary of Japan’s Dentsu, saw a total gross profit growth of 32.8 per cent on constant currency, with a 3.1 per cent organic growth, in the first quarter of 2017.

In the EMEA region, the company grew 5.8 per cent organically – down from 10.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) – as opposed to 4.5 per cent in APAC excluding Japan and 0.6 per cent in the Americas. On a constant currency basis, EMEA grew 18.2 per cent and APAC grew 11.6 per cent. However, the biggest constant currency growth came in the Americas, which grew 63.4 per cent with the help of iProspect, Fetch and Merkle.

Dentsu hailed strong individual performances in the Nordics, France, Italy, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Taiwan, India, Australia, Indonesia, and Singapore. The UK remained stable despite Brexit and the upcoming general election, whereas Brazil’s geopolitical and economic tensions have caused market uncertainty.

Digital services now make up 56.9 per cent of gross profit at Dentsu Aegis, up 9.1 per cent YoY, and the company intends to become 100 per cent digital by 2020.

Dentsu Aegis made three acquisitions during the quarter including Swiss digital transformation player Blue-infinity, Indonesian media and creative shop Dwi Sapta, and Sri Lankan creative agency Grant Group.