In the second quarter of 2018, WPP’s like-for-like net sales rose 0.7% – its first quarter of underlying revenue growth since Q1 2017.
WPP’s first half trading update comes after Monday’s announcement that Mark Read is taking over as chief executive officer, closing a turbulent few months following the sudden resignation of founder and CEO Martin Sorrell in April. During that period, Read led the company as co-chief operating officer with Andrew Scott.
The advertising giant now expects full-year net sales to experience similar growth to the first half, having previously predicted no growth at all.
Meanwhile, pre-tax profits for the first half as a whole increased 8.6% to £846 million – a large proportion of which came from asset sales including Globant and AppNexus stakes. WPP says it is focusing its portfolio through 15 disposals and divestments in total, generating cash proceeds of £676 million thus far this year.
Elsewhere, WPP won an estimated USD$3.2 billion in new business billings in the first half of the year, having won new briefs from brands including Adidas, Hilton, Mondelez and T-Mobile – though its biggest client, Ford, is currently in review.
However, revenues from WPP’s biggest single market, North America, continue to decline, down -3.3% in Q2 following a -2.4% decline in Q1.
According to Mark Read, a strategy review is underway to address the company’s structure, underperforming operations and future positioning. An update is expected by the end of the year.
But his appointment appears to have done little to sooth investors, with share price dropping -7.5% in the hours following the half year trading update.
