Ad group WPP says client wins help trading to improve

[LONDON] The world's biggest advertising company WPP said client wins from Uber, Alibaba and HSBC had helped it to report an improvement in third-quarter underlying trading.

The British owner of the Ogilvy, Grey and GroupM agencies said its like-for-like net sales fell by 7.6 per cent in the three months to the end of September, compared with a second-quarter drop of 15.1 per cent.

WPP, which has seen clients slash spending to conserve cash, said it was on track to hit the upper end of a £700 million to £800 million (S$1.24 billion to S$1.42 billion) cost reduction target, and was on track for analyst expectations.

"Given the tightening of Covid restrictions around the world and uncertainty in the global economic outlook, we remain cautious about the pace of recovery," chief executive Mark Read said.

It said analysts see full-year underlying net sales coming in between -8.5 per cent to -10.7 per cent and headline operating margin of 11.4 per cent to 12.5 per cent.

The group said it had enjoyed a steady improvement in its key territory of North America as clients returned to spending on media ads.

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REUTERS