April 24 (Reuters) - Interpublic reported sharp

revenue drops in some of its international markets on Wednesday,

including the Middle East, as geopolitical uncertainty weighs on

advertisement budgets.

Growing tensions in the Middle East have clouded growth

prospects for the advertising group, which in February flagged

that the Israel-Hamas conflict would impact its business.

The company reaffirmed its annual growth forecast of 1% to

2%, but said a recent decision by a major unnamed client meant

it would be challenging to reach the top end of that range.

Interpublic - which also owns McCann, Mediabrands and

MullenLowe - reported revenue of $2.18 billion for the first

quarter, in line with market expectations according to LSEG

data.

That reflected uncertain growth in the advertising market as

several tech and media companies lay off staff and cut costs.

Its peer Omnicom ( OMC ) beat quarterly profit and revenue

expectations last week on strong demand for its ad services.

Revenue from its "all other markets" segment, which includes

Canada, Africa and the Middle East, fell 6.5% in the quarter,

while Asia-Pacific saw a 8.1% drop in the same period.

It reported quarterly earnings of 29 cents per share, down

from 33 cents per share a year ago.