In the third quarter, advertising behemoth, WPP saw a return to growth, as its organic revenue increased by 0.5%, exceeding the market’s prediction of a 0.2% fall.
Supported by new business deals with Amazon, Unilever, and Henkel, the better-than-expected performance drove WPP’s shares up as much as 5%, to a four-month high. This recovery came after organic revenue fell by 1% in the first half of the year, BrandSpur business and economy news reports.
According to CEO, Mark Read, demand from the company’s top ten clients increased by 7% during the quarter. Notably, there were notable improvements in several client areas, including technology, which had previously presented difficulties. He also credited the successful quarter to new business acquisitions and a strengthened competitive position, which benefited WPP’s affiliates, including creative firms Ogilvy and VML and media buyer GroupM.
According to him: “We won Amazon’s media account outside the Americas with a pitch built around WPP Open and led by a team drawn from across GroupM and WPP, leveraging our unmatched global footprint. It’s the world’s largest advertiser, so it’s a very important win for us.”
Regionally, difficult market conditions in China slightly offset the growth in North America, continental Europe, and India. He pointed out that Chinese consumers lacked confidence.
In his remarks about the Chinese market, he revealed: “In the short term, trading remains difficult, and that particularly impacts WPP, where we work with a number of luxury, automotive, and fast-moving consumer goods companies, three sectors that are under some macro and competitive pressures.”
Continuing, he added that the outlook for the U.S. consumer was mixed, with pressure continuing at the lower end. He said: “Companies that have pushed too hard on price have found the market a little bit more difficult.”
