When the market opened this morning, Omnicom shares fell by over $1.33, or 2.4%, to trade at $55.72 on the New York Stock Exchange. However, the price quickly recovered, trading up by $1.59, or 2.84%, at $57.59.
Yesterday, after the market closed, Omnicom said it had voluntarily provided the Securities and Exchange Commission with information related to the resignation of Robert Callander, chairman of its audit committee, and Richard Beattie.
Stock in Omnicom started falling after rumours began to circulate that a story was being written about its accounting practices, a story that appeared in the Wall Street Journal last week.
After the story was published, four class action lawsuits on behalf of those who purchased Omnicom shares over the last two years have been launched. Omnicom has since announced it is switching its auditing from Andersen to KPMG.
However, it began to regain some ground as analysts reaffirmed their recommendations and president and CEO John Wren has vehemently denied that Omnicom has anything to hide.
Other US-listed advertising stocks were on the rise this morning. Grey was up by 1.2%, or $8.95, while the Interpublic Group of Companies' share price was up 0.6%, or $0.17, at $26.90. Publicis, which warned there was no recovery expected in the second half of the year, was trading up by 3.3% at $27.57. Only Havas was down, losing $0.07 or 1.1%, at $6.51.
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