Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator instructions). Our first question comes from Alexia Quadrani of JP Morgan. Your line is open.
Alexia Quadrani – JPMorgan
Hi, thank you. Couple of questions. First, could you comment if there are any particular trends in terms of how revenue progressed throughout the quarter and then also what you're seeing any color you may give us what you're seeing early in Q2? And I have a follow up.
Michael Roth
Good morning, Alexia. Obviously, January was a difficult month for us. We continued – obviously it's still challenging, but we've seen some improvements in February and March. Clearly, with respect to the rest of the year, we are monitoring very carefully, but gradually we hope to see some gradual improvement, but it's still very difficult to call. And so there is no reason from – I know you don't have a crystal ball, but there is no reason to assume that revenue trends will deteriorate necessarily in the second quarter?
Frank Mergenthaler
I would say there is no need to compelling evidence to see it. But obviously you have to assume some cautiousness in this environment. And then when you are looking at our agencies, are there still some select few that maybe are still showing improvements in profitability in this difficult marketplace maybe as a result of the turnaround efforts you made over the last couple of years or –?
Michael Roth
Certainly, I mean, Lowe was a good example. Obviously, they continue to make strong improvement, particularly in reflecting the numbers that you see in the UK. Draft FCB continues to show improvement with respect to its new client wins and revenues. So we are seeing improvement in a number of our agencies against the difficult environment.
Alexia Quadrani – JPMorgan
So would you think it be possible to just sort of maintain this impressive feat in the quarter keeping margins flat ex-severance through the year if the revenue trends persist
Michael Roth
Our goal is to try to maintain the level of margin, obviously if there is a big deterioration in revenue as we go through the year it'd become more difficult. But we're certainly taking hard actions to keep that possible.
Frank Mergenthaler
Alexia, as we said on the fourth quarter call we believe maintaining flat margins with revenues down 2% to 3% was dual beyond that will be challenging especially due to the severance headwinds.
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