UPDATE 2-Omnicom profit up, but some clients cutting back

* Q3 profit rises 6 pct, slightly better than expected

* Warns of spending cuts by retail and auto sectors

* Shares fall 7 pct
(Adds CEO comments, share price, byline)

By Paul Thomasch

NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Omnicom Group Inc (OMC.N), home
of some of the best-known advertising agencies, joined the
chorus of those warning of an advertising slowdown on Tuesday,
saying retail and automotive clients had begun to push back and
even cancel some spending plans.

The world's largest advertising company -- which has posted
some of the industry's best results in recent years -- reported
a 6 percent increase in third-quarter profit, slightly better
than Wall Street had expected.

Its shares fell 7 percent, however, as its comments on the
economic crisis served notice to investors that even the
big-name advertising agencies are suffering.

"There's caution out there -- caution and confusion,"
Omnicom Chief Executive John Wren said on a conference call.
"The chatter for the last month has been Congress, financial
crisis, the world collapsing. So there hasn't been a lot of
clear actionable information derived from clients above that
chatter level."

Wren added: "We have seen an expressed cutback in some of
the spending plans for automotive and retail sectors."

Omnicom's comments came after several outside analysts have
scaled back their spending forecasts for the entire advertising
industry, concerned that a worsening economy will mean budget
cuts by marketers.

Omnicom, parent company of agencies like BBDO Worldwide and
DDB Worldwide, said it would try to take advantage of the
worsening economy by eventually acquiring staff or agencies that
previously would have been too high-priced.

"We'll make lemonade out of the lemons that we're served,"
Wren said.

Omnicom, whose client list includes such corporate titans as
Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc (BUD.N) and McDonald's Corp (MCD.N), said
third-quarter profit increased to $213.6 million, or 69 cents a
share. That compared with profit of $202.2 million, or 62 cents
a share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose nearly 7 percent to $3.3 billion, while organic
revenue, a closely watched industry benchmark that excludes
foreign currency impact and recent acquisitions, rose 4.1
percent.

Analysts forecast earnings of 68 cents per share, according
to Reuters Estimates, with revenue pegged at $3.3 billion.

Shares of Omnicom were down $2.35 at $31.04 on the New York
Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning.
(Reporting by Paul Thomasch; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and
Matthew Lewis)