WPP CEO Martin Sorrell reported today that revenue (Jan.-April) rose 15.9 percent to $6.3B, while profit ran “well above budget and ahead of last year.”
The PR/PA group (Finsbury, Burson-Marsteller, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, and Cohn & Wolfe) was up 5.8 percent in revenue on a constant currency basis, off a tad from the first-quarter.
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Sir Martin SorrellIn April, WPP’s PR/PA unit registered “very strong growth” in the UK with Continental Europe and Asia slightly weaker.
North America ranked as WPP’s weakest region as four-month revenue slipped 2.7 percent. Advertising, media/data investment management and parts of healthcare slipped for the period. PR/PA, branding & identity, digital, eCommerce and shopper marketing businesses were up.
Sorrell sees brighter prospects in the US under the Trump Administration, “which is clearly much more strongly pro-business, and much more business-connected than the Obama administration.”
He cited Trump’s “planned pro-growth tax, infrastructure investment, spending and regulatory reform, although implementation has been delayed.”
Due to the low-inflation environment, Sorrell said there’s considerable focus on the short-term and cost. “Finance and procurement functions are dominant, certainly equal or more powerful than marketing, rightly or wrongly, and the siren calls of consultants suggesting cost based solutions," said Sorrell.
At the annual general meeting, 21.3 percent of shareholders voted against or abstained on Sorrell’s $62M compensation package. The vote against Sorrell’s pay was smaller than the 34 percent tally last year.
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.
Institutional Shareholder Services advises investors to vote "no" on a compensation package for WPP chief Cindy Rose at the May 8 annual meeting.
FTI Consulting chalked up a 9.5 percent rise in Q1 revenues to $983.3M, powered by gains in its PR, corporate finance and technology segments.
Stagwell reports 4 percent growth in Q1 net revenues to $585M and a record $141M in net new business wins.
WPP reported a 6.7 percent drop to $3.1B in Q1 like-like revenues less pass-through costs. CEO Cindy Rose says 'it will take time to outpace historical losses."
