Presentation of Financial Statements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

The terms “Omnicom,” “the Company,” “we,” “our” and “us” each refer to Omnicom Group Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise. The accompanying consolidated financial statements were prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or U.S. GAAP or GAAP. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

We prepare our financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP and are required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates and assumptions.

Risks and Uncertainties

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on our Business

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted our business and results of operations. Efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, including government actions to restrict travel, limit public gatherings, shelter-in-place orders and mandatory closures of businesses, resulted in many of our clients reducing or suspending their spending for our advertising, marketing and corporate communication services. As a result, for the year ended December 31, 2020, revenue decreased $1,782.6 million, or 11.9%, compared to 2019, primarily due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our revenue has been, and may continue to be, material, depending on several factors, including the potential for prolonged or additional governmental actions to mitigate the effects of the pandemic in the near-term, and the intermediate and long-term impact on marketers' spending plans.

In response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the second quarter of 2020, we took actions to align our cost structure and reduce our workforce and facility requirements and continued the review of businesses for disposal and assets for impairment. As a result, we recorded a pre-tax charge of $277.9 million, which is comprised of incremental severance of $150.0 million, real estate operating lease right-of-use, or ROU, asset and other asset impairment charges of $55.8 million, other exit costs of $47.0 million and dispositions and other charges of $25.1 million.

In addition, during 2020 we reduced salary and service costs by $162.6 million related to reimbursements and tax credits under government programs in several countries, including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act, in the United States, the Kurzarbeit program in Germany, and other government reimbursement programs in the U.K., France, Canada and other jurisdictions.

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted most of our clients' businesses. As a result, clients have cut costs, including postponing or reducing marketing communication expenditures. While certain industries such as healthcare and pharmaceuticals, technology and telecommunications, financial services and consumer products have been less affected, as long as the COVID-19 pandemic remains a threat, global economic conditions continue to be volatile and such uncertainty cuts across all clients, industries and geographies. Overall, while we have a diversified portfolio of service offerings, clients and geographies, demand for our services can be expected to continue to be adversely affected as marketers reduce expenditures in the short term due to the uncertain impact of the pandemic on the global economy. We expect global economic performance and our performance to vary by geography until the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy moderates.

Although we have experienced a decrease in our cash flow from operating activities, we took numerous proactive steps to strengthen our liquidity and financial position that are intended to mitigate the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our liquidity. In February 2020, we issued $600 million 2.45% Senior Notes due April 30, 2030, or the 2.45% Notes. In March 2020, the net proceeds from the issuance of the 2.45% Notes were used to redeem the remaining $600 million principal amount of our 4.45% Senior Notes due August 15, 2020, or the 2020 Notes. As a result, we have no notes maturing until May 2022. In April 2020, we issued $600 million of 4.20% Senior Notes due June 1, 2030, or the 4.20% Notes, and we entered into a new $400 million 364 day revolving credit facility, or the 364 Day Credit Facility. The 364 Day Credit Facility is in addition to our existing $2.5 billion multi-currency revolving credit facility, or Credit Facility, which we extended to mature in February 2025. In addition, in March 2020, we suspended our share repurchase activity.

The impact on the global economy and resulting decline in the price of our common stock was determined to be a trigger event in the first quarter of 2020 that required us to perform a review of our long-lived assets for impairment, primarily related to goodwill, amortizable intangible assets and equity method investments. We updated our review in June 2020, and the result of the review of intangible assets and goodwill is discussed in Note 5. In the second quarter of 2020, we disposed of one of our equity method investments and recognized a non-cash after-tax charge of $3.9 million. In the fourth quarter of 2020 we recorded asset impairment charges of $55.8 million associated with underperforming assets, which is included in salary and service costs.

The impact of these actions on operating profit and income (loss) from equity method investments was (in millions):


	Increase (Decrease)
	Operating Profit		Income (Loss) from Equity Method Investments

















COVID-19 repositioning costs	$	(277.9)
Impairment charges - underperforming assets	(55.8)
Impairment charge - equity method investment			$	(3.9)
Reimbursements and tax credits under government programs	162.6
	$	(171.1)	$	(3.9)

Accounting Changes

Adoption of ASU 2016-13

On January 1, 2020, we adopted ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses: Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, or ASU 2016-13, which changes the impairment model for most financial assets, including accounts receivable. The new model uses a forward-looking expected loss method. Historically, the credit loss experience on our client billings has not resulted in material bad debt expense. Accordingly, the adoption of ASU 2016-13 did not have a significant impact on our financial position, or on our results of operations.

As a result of the adoption of ASU 2016-13, we changed our accounting policy for allowance for doubtful accounts as follows: We maintain an allowance for doubtful accounts related to potential losses that could arise due to our customers' inability to make required payments. This allowance requires management to apply judgment in deriving the estimated reserve. In connection with the estimate of our allowance, we perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers’ financial condition, including information related to their credit ratings obtained from independent third-party firms. If, as a result, we become aware that additional reserves may be necessary, we perform additional analysis including, but not limited to, factors such as a customer’s creditworthiness, intent and ability to pay and overall financial position. If the data we use to calculate the allowance for doubtful accounts does not timely reflect the future ability to collect outstanding receivables, including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our clients' credit, additional provisions for doubtful accounts may be needed and our results of operations could be affected. For 2020, we recorded bad debt expense of $23.5 million and increased our allowance for doubtful accounts to $30.4 million.

Adoption of ASU 2018-15

On January 1, 2020, we adopted ASU 2018-15, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other, Internal-Use Software, or ASU 2018-15, which aligns the accounting for implementation costs incurred in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. We adopted ASU 2018-15 on a prospective basis for implementation costs for new or existing arrangements incurred on or after the adoption date. The adoption of ASU 2018-15 did not have a significant impact on our results of operations or financial position.