WPP PLC (LSE:WPP) will publish results for 2023 on Thursday 22 February with its shares mounting a gentle rally after sinking to almost a three-year low in the autumn.
Helping this, the company said last month that the outturn for last year would meet headline guidance, meaning investor attention at the results will be on recent trends, new business momentum and expectations on media spend in 2024.
There will also be a focus on AI, with WPP's latest update also including plans to invest £250 million in the tech this year, a strategic move expected to revolutionise the advertising sector.
Investors will also be looking for comments on reports that Bain Capital is looking to sell Kantar Media, in which WPP has a 40% stake.
Peers Publicis, Omnicom and Interpublic have already reported revenue figures for the past year and as a whole with YoY organic growth averaging 3.9% and 3.5%, respectively and underlying performance varying from +5.7% and +6.3% (Publicis) to 1.7% and -0.1% (Interpublic).
"We expect WPP to be closer to the bottom end of these ranges," said broker Shore Capital.
"The scope for recovery in areas of weakness during 2023 (particularly the tech space and China) and following on from a disappointing Q3 performance is also likely to be of particular interest," analysts said.
Based on updated estimates, Shore Cap has WPP’s stock trading on 8.2 times 2024 earnings and on dividend and free cashflow yields of 5.3% and 11.1%, respectively.
"We regard this as modest relative to its underlying strengths and our expectation of accelerating medium-term EPS and DPS growth and robust cash generation. We also note a material forward P/E discount and a significantly superior dividend yield versus its international peers."