UPDATE 2-Omnicom profit up 14 percent, shares rise

(Adds CEO comments, share move, byline)

By Paul Thomasch

NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - Omnicom Group Inc (OMC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's largest advertising services company, reported a 14 percent rise in quarterly earnings on Tuesday, beating Wall Street expectations and assuaging worries that its clients would cut spending during a U.S. economic downturn.

With the reassurance that advertising spending is holding up for the moment -- at least when it comes to Omnicom agencies like BBDO Worldwide and DDB Worldwide -- investors drove shares of Omnicom up almost 5 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.

"Like most of our clients, we remain cautious about the economy, but to date, as I said, we have not seen any significant reduction in client spending," Chief Executive John Wren said on a conference call.

"We're not suggesting that we're immune from what's going on," Wren added. "It's just that we're reporting we haven't seen the shifts yet."

In the past, companies have often sacrificed marketing budgets when the economy turns soft, so comments from the top advertising companies can indicate a measure of economic health. That is particularly the case when it comes to Omnicom, whose client list includes such corporate titans as Anheuser-Busch (BUD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and McDonald's (MCD.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

Omnicom's results turned out better than the average Wall Street forecast. Its first-quarter profit increased to $208.7 million, or 65 cents a share, from $183 million, or 55 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 12.5 percent to $3.2 billion.