WPP revenue and pre-tax profits up despite billings decrease of 3% during Q2
WPP has reported a revenue increase of 2.7 per cent to £5.469bn and pre-tax profits grow by 15 per cent, despite a decrease of reported billings by 3 per cent to £22.060bn, due to the strength of the pound sterling.
The world’s largest marketing services network saw its pre-tax profits rise to $491m during the second quarter of 2014 with sales in the UK up 6.5 per cent as the business saw growth accelerating within its direct, digital, interactive, public relations, public affairs and specialist communications agencies in the region.
North America recorded a 4.1 per cent net sales growth, 0.3 per cent down on the previous quarter, while Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe recorded revenue growth of 11.9 per cent, over double the region’s growth during the first quarter at 5.2 per cent.
The network has also continued to sound caution about the year ahead, with CEO, Sir Martin Sorrell extending his number of ‘Grey swans’ to six, to include the outcome of the Scottish Independent Referendum, alongside the fragility of the Eurozone, Middle Eastern uncertainty, a Chinese hard or soft landing, the US deficit and his previously referred to ‘Black swans.’
“All in all, whilst clients may be more confident than they were in September 2008, they broadly remain unwilling to take further risks, particularly given so many political flash points. They remain focussed on a strategy of adding capacity and brand building in both fast growth geographic and functional markets, like digital and containing or reducing capacity, perhaps with brand building to maintain or increase market share, in the mature, slow growth markets,” he stated in the financial report’s outlook.
Meanwhile, during the first six months of the year, WPP agreed 36 transactions, 20 of which were acquisitions, the latest deals included GroupM ‘s agreement to acquire digital search marketing agency Keyade in France and Millward Brown’s acquisition of US research firm InsightExpress, both announced today (26 August.)
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WPP plc is a British multinational communications, advertising, public relations, technology, and commerce holding company headquartered in London, England. It was...
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