Advertising and marketing conglomerate WPP PLC (LSE:WPP) returned to growth in the past quarter with better revenues than expected, thanks to new wins with the likes of Amazon, Starbucks and Unilever.
The FTSE 100-listed marketing group, which owns agencies including GroupM, Ogilvy, Mindshare and Finsbury, reported revenue less pass-through costs of £2.9 billion for the third quarter, up 0.5% on a like-for-like basis.
This was an improvement on the 1% LFL decline in the first half of the year and meant nine-month revenues reached £8.4 billion, still 0.5% lower than a year earlier.
LFL revenue was up 1.7% in North America and 2.2% in Western Continental Europe, with the UK flat after a 5.3% fall in the first half. The 2.2% decline remained for the Rest of the World region, reflecting a continued decline in China of 21.3%, a slight easing from the 24% decline in the first half.
Chief executive Mark Read said WPP “returned to form” in new business, winning Amazon's media account outside the Americas, winning back US business as part of Unilever’s global agency review, with this success with two of the world's top ten advertisers demonstrating “the renewed competitiveness of our offer”.
While the board was “encouraged by progress” during the quarter, Read said the recent new business wins primarily impacted 2025 rather than this year and due to “continuing macroeconomic pressures our expectations for the full year remain unchanged”.
Unchanged guidance means the group expects 2024 flat LFL revenue less pass-through costs at the top end to a 1% decline at worst, with the fourth quarter facing a tougher comparative from last year than the third. Headline operating profit margins are expected to increase very slightly.