WPP 1st-Quarter Revenue Growth Slows
27 April 2017 - 4:33PM
Dow Jones News
By Nick Kostov
WPP PLC (WPP.LN) said revenue growth slowed in the first quarter
as clients spent less in the U.S. and emerging markets.
The world's largest advertising company kept its forecast for
slower growth for 2017, reflecting a couple of large account losses
and what it called "challenging top line growth opportunities and
uncertainties" for its clients.
Like-for-like net sales--a measure used to judge the company's
underlying performance--rose 0.8% in the three months to March 31,
in line with the expectations of analysts. WPP said that
particularly strong sales growth in the same period a year earlier
made the latest figures look weaker and growth would accelerate in
the second half.
The U.K.-based company, whose agencies include Mindshare and
JWT, said Thursday that operating profit was well above budget and
ahead of last year. Reported revenue rose 17% to GBP3.6 billion,
lifted by favorable currency translation.
Run by Chief Executive Martin Sorrell, WPP has expanded its
digital operations and made acquisitions to outpace rivals like
Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) and Publicis Groupe SA (PUB.FR) as
spending for ads in traditional media has slowed in recent
years.
WPP repeated that it is budgeting for around 2% growth in both
revenue and net sales for 2017.
Write to Nick Kostov at Nick.Kostov@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 27, 2017 02:18 ET (06:18 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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