WPP 2Q Like-for-Like Net Sales Fell 15%; Swung to 1st Half Pretax Loss
August 27 2020 - 2:33AM
Dow Jones News
By Adria Calatayud
WPP PLC said Thursday that like-for-like net sales fell 15% in
the second quarter as cost-conscious clients tightened their
advertising budgets, and swung to a first-half pretax loss on
coronavirus-related charges.
The world's largest advertising group said like-for-like net
sales fell 9.2% on year.
Full-year like-for-like net sales and headline operating margin
are expected to be within the range of analysts' expectations, the
company said. Analysts currently expect WPP's like-for-like net
sales to fall between 10% and 11.5% in and its headline operating
margin to be between 10.4% and 12.5%, according to figures provided
by the company.
London-based WPP said the coronavirus pandemic triggered a
reassessment of the value of acquisitions. As a result, it booked
impairment charges of 2.7 billion pounds ($3.57 billion).
For the first half as a whole, the company reported a pretax
loss of GBP2.58 billion compared with a profit of GBP409.0 million
in the year-earlier period.
Revenue for the half year fell 12% to GBP5.58 billion, WPP
said.
WPP declared an interim dividend of 10 pence a share, down from
22.7 pence a share last year, and said its share buyback is still
under review. The company said it intends to restart share
repurchases when the environment stabilizes.
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 27, 2020 02:18 ET (06:18 GMT)
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