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| Mark Read |
WPP CEO Mark Read reports WPP like-for-like revenues declined 1.9 percent during Q4 and 1.6 percent for the full year to $14B.
He said 2019 was “the foundational year for the new WPP strategy.” It featured the divestiture of the majority stake in Kantar, mergers, office consolidations and the layoff of 3,500 people.
The PR group (BCW, H+K Strategies, Finsbury, Glover Park, Hering Schuppener and Buchanan) remained in the doldrums, posting a 1.0 percent revenue decline to $1.2B for the full-year.
Business picked up a bit during Q4 as revenues dipped 0.1 percent compared to 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent fall-offs during Q3 and the first half, respectively.
Reed projects flat revenue growth during 2020, which is the second year of his promised three-year transformation of the ad/PR giant.
The CEO remains optimistic about WPP’s future in the communications sector because “the marketing landscape has never been more dynamic and complex, and clients need our help and expertise more than ever.”
He admits though that WPP still has much more work to be done.
Public Policy Holding Company registered 24.1 percent growth to a record $135M during the past year, which included the results of the March 1 acquisition of Multistate Assocs.
Stagwell CEO Mark Penn reported Q4 net revenues dipped 5.6 percent to $551.1M during a “challenging year for marketing services and digital transformation.”
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WPP reported Q4 revenues inched ahead 0.3 percent to $4.1B as CEO Mark Read wrapped up a year that he said was more challenging than expected due to cutbacks, mainly by technology clients.
Edelman reports 2023 revenues declined 3.7 percent to $1.04B as its flagship US region was off 9.1 percent to $639M.
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