WPP dismisses merger move and predicts brighter outlook

Sir Martin Sorrell, the chief executive, admitted last month’s “big, bold” merger move by Publicis and Omnicom came as a surprise, but dismissed the threat of the enlarged POG group, saying its organisation and structure would be “clunky”. He added: “Potential client and, even more importantly, people conflicts are considerable.”

“All in all, we believe a post-POG world presents us and other competitors, as a result, with enhanced opportunities and is at worst neutral and at best highly positive,” he said.

In a bullish half-year set of results, WPP said like-for-like revenue growth hit 5 per cent last month, up from 2.4 per cent over the first half of the year and the biggest monthly hike so far this year.

It reported more than half a billion pounds in interim profits for the first time, with underlying pre-tax profits up 12 per cent to £524m thanks to a resurgent performance from the UK and US, accounting for 12 per cent and 34 per cent of overall group turnover respectively.

The UK was the strongest performing region in the second quarter, with revenues up 5.4 per cent against 3.7 per cent in the first three months.

WPP owns Kinetic in Harrogate and MediaCom and TNS in Leeds.

The group’s US business recovered from a 1 per cent fall in the first quarter to see turnover rise 2.4 per cent in the following three months.

WPP said that it now expects full-year revenues growth of more than 3 per cent following a stronger second half perform- ance.

The UK and US revenue rise offset slower growth in emerging markets and ongoing woes in Europe, where first half like-for-like turnover fell 1 per cent.

The group signalled increased client confidence.