Dentsu posted a 3.7% organic revenue decline in the first quarter, which it said was in line with internal expectations given “headwinds” from client losses last year and a soft market for its customer transformation and technology division. 

However, the firm said it expects to recover in the second half as headwinds ease and revenue from recent wins starts to kick in. 

The Group reiterated full-year guidance of approximately 1% organic growth, which excludes the impact of M&A activity and currency fluctuations.  

Reported net revenue for the first quarter—including M&A and currency factors—was up 6.3%. 

Japan was the strongest performing region for the group in the period with organic growth of 2.4%. It is also the firm’s largest region, accounting for 43% of its revenue. 

The Americas region, the company’s second largest market (accounting for 28% of revenue) was down 6.6% on an organic basis. The company said that the cycling out of lost client accounts will improve performance in the region in the second half of the year along with recent new client wins. Also helping: technology clients that cut spending sharply last year are starting to ramp up their budgets.  

The company’s Europe, Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific regions were down 9.4% and 7.1% respectively but are also expected to show improvement in the second half.  

Company President and CEO Hiroshi Igarashi said the company is positioned well to serve future client demands. “Clients are searching for a marketing transformation partner that can deliver true integration of media, dynamic content and data insights via solutions that seamlessly connect brand potential to business impact,” he said.