WPP Cuts Full-Year Sales Guidance; Looks to Sell Kantar Stake
25 Ottobre 2018 - 8:31AM
Dow Jones News
By Nick Kostov and Adria Calatayud
WPP PLC (WPP.LN) on Thursday cut full-year guidance and
confirmed it is seeking to sell a stake in market-research unit
Kantar Group, as it reported third-quarter net sales below
expectations.
The world's largest advertising group said it now expects
like-for-like net sales to fall by between 0.5% and 1.0%.
Previously, the company had expected like-for-like net sales to
show trends similar to those experienced in the first half, when
like-for-like revenue rose 1.6% and comparable net sales were up
0.3%.
The U.K. company, which owns agencies including J. Walter
Thompson and Group M, said like-for-like net sales--a key measure
of its operating performance--fell 1.5% for the quarter ended Sept.
30. Analysts had expected a 0.4% rise.
WPP said a weakening of its businesses in North America and in
its creative agencies dragged down the group's third-quarter
performance. In North America, like-for-like net sales dropped
5.3%, WPP said.
Overall revenue declined 0.8% to 3.76 billion pounds ($4.86
billion) for the third quarter compared with GBP3.79 billion in the
year-earlier period.
In Thursday's statement, WPP confirmed it will seek to offload a
stake in Kantar Group, in what would be the largest sale since
Chief Executive Mark Read took the helm. The company is selling
assets to reduce its debt-to-earnings ratio and simplify its
sprawling operations, and previously signaled that disposing of all
or part of Kantar was an option.
Write to Nick Kostov at Nick.Kostov@wsj.com and Adria Calatayud
at adria.calatayudvaello@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 25, 2018 02:16 ET (06:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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