 Martin Sorrell |
WPP shares plummeted seven percent in London today, the first trading day following the bombshell exit of CEO Martin Sorrell following a probe (now completed) of his personal misconduct and misuse of assets allegations.
The stock price of the British ad/PR conglom has been on the slide for more than a year due to cutbacks in consumer spending and earnings downgrades.
The exit of Sorrell, who built WPP during the past 33 years and was considered the glue that held it together, has triggered speculation of a break-up/sale of the conglom.
Kantar Media, the market research and data investment arm, is viewed as the most attractive WPP asset, along with PR units such as Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Finsbury and Burson Cohn & Wolfe, according to the Financial Times.
Sorrell, who does not have a non-compete clause in his employment contract, may be planning the launch of WPP II.
In his farewell note to WPP staffers, he signed off with, “Back to the Future.”
WPP CEO Cindy Rose declares her stabilization plan is "firmly on track" as the company reports a 4.7 percent dip in 1H revenues.
FTI Consulting reported a 2.6 percent drop in Q2 strategic communications revenues to $100M, a shortfall largely due to a $7.4M decline in pass-through revenues.
Omnicom CEO John Wren reported a 7.2 percent rise in Q2 “core operations” to $6B and a 6.1 percent spurt on an organic basis.
Publicis Groupe’s H1 net revenues inched ahead by 1.1 percent to $8.3B. Organic growth hit the 4.7 percent mark.
Public Policy Holding Company grew 27.5 percent to $50.1M during Q1, powered by the accelerating contribution from recent acquisitions and a 5.1 percent hike in organic revenues across its three operating segments.
