WPP Wpp Plc

By Adria Calatayud

WPP PLC (WPP.LN) said Friday that like-for-like net sales rose 0.5% in the third quarter, and backed its guidance for the full year.

The world's largest advertising group said like-for-like net sales--a closely-watched measurement of its underlying performance--in North America fell 3.5% for the quarter to Sept. 30. Consensus net sales forecast was for a fall of 0.6%, supplied by the company.

London-based WPP, which owns agencies such as Grey, Ogilvy and GroupM, generated revenue of 3.29 billion pounds ($4.24 billion) for the quarter compared with GBP3.13 billion for the year-earlier period.

WPP reiterated its guidance for 2019. It continues to expect like-for-like net sales to fall by 1.5% to 2.0%, and headline operating margin to net sales to fall around 1.0 margin point on a constant-currency basis.

"Our growth in 3Q 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," Chief Executive Mark Read said.

WPP's third-quarter net sales performance improved compared with a 1.4% decline in the previous three-month period, after French peer Publicis Groupe SA (PUB.FR) cut its 2019 guidance and fell short of analysts' expectations for the third quarter earlier this month.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayudvaello@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 25, 2019 02:39 ET (06:39 GMT)

Wpp (LSE:WPP)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Mar 2024 até Abr 2024

Wpp (LSE:WPP)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Abr 2023 até Abr 2024