WPP said today PR and public affairs revenues rose 5.8% to £234M in the second quarter with a particular slow-down in Washington and at its Penn Schoen Berland unit.
CEO Martin Sorrell said Cohn & Wolfe continued strong growth seen in Q1, and singled out its German PR unit Herin Schuppener, as well. Other units include Burson-Marsteller, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Ogilvy PR and Glover Park Group.
Overall at WPP, revenue was up 6.2% to just under £2.6B on operating profit of £570M.
For the first half, WPP’s PR and public affairs is up 6.8% to 459M with an operating profit of 62M.
In North America overall, Sorrell cited reduced client spending in parts of the healthcare business, custom research, WPP’s call center operation and public affairs businesses in Washington in advance of the presidential election. Improvement was seen in the U.K., although Western Europe slowed with the U.S.
WPP is returning to the U.K. from Ireland next year, pending shareholder approval, because of new legislation in Britain protecting foreign profits from taxes.