WPP WPP PLC

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)

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