British multinational advertising and public relations company, WPP has released its reported revenue for quarter three of 2019. Its reported revenue from continuing operations – which excludes Kantar – saw a 5.2% increase, valued at £3.291bn.
Geographically, like-for-like revenue growth in the third quarter was stronger in the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & the Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe, with Western Continental Europe and the United Kingdom up strongly, partly offset by North America. South-East Asia, Latin America and the Middle East were particularly strong with Africa and ANZ more difficult.
By sector, the group’s global integrated agencies were up strongly, but public relations and the group’s specialist agencies performed less well. In the third quarter, there was an improvement in revenue less pass-through costs from continuing operations, with constant currency and like-for-like growth of 0.5%, the first quarter of growth since the second quarter of 2018, and significantly stronger than the -2.5% in the first half.
Mark Read, Chief Executive Officer of WPP, said:
“WPP’s performance in the third quarter is another important step in the strategy we outlined in December 2018 to return the Company to sustainable growth in line with our peers in 2021.
“Our growth in Q3 is encouraging but we are focused on delivering these longer-term goals and know there will be twists and turns along the way. Our guidance for 2019 remains unchanged.
“It continues to be a successful year for new business, with major wins in the quarter including Mondelez and eBay, but just as importantly we are growing and retaining longstanding clients, such as the US Marine Corps and Centrica, who value the depth of our understanding and the longevity of the relationship.
“Yesterday, WPP shareholders voted to approve the Kantar transaction, which will further simplify our business and significantly strengthen our balance sheet, while creating a new partnership for Kantar’s future growth and development.
“In the last 12 months, WPP has taken decisive action and made substantial progress on many fronts: we have fewer, stronger agency brands; new leadership in many of our companies; enhanced central teams supporting our companies; and a renewed commitment to creativity, powered by technology. We have cemented our position as the largest partner to the world’s leading technology firms and, most importantly, the work we do continues to be highly valued by our clients as we adapt to their changing needs in a dynamic marketplace.”
