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.
|
|
 |
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 registered 23.8 percent Q3 growth to $48.8M, with organic growth contributing 4.5 percent and the balance driven by merger & acquisition activity.
Publicis Groupe reported 3.1 percent in Q3 growth to $4B, sparked by a 3.6 percent jump North America, its biggest market.
WPP suffered a 10.2 percent drop in 1H revenues to $6.7B and a 47.8 percent plunge in operating profit to $297M.
Interpublic reported Q2 net revenues dropped 6.6 percent to $2.2B and operating income tumbled 23.4 percent to $243.7M. 
WPP has adopted a gloomier profit and sales forecast due to a deteriorating Q2 financial performance triggered by weak client spending as companies cope with the challenging economic backdrop.
