WPP chief Sir Martin Sorrell says trading is tough due to low growth
“It’s a grind,” says WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell of the advertising market. “Trading conditions remain tough, it is low growth and low or no inflation,” he said as he reported numbers for the third quarter.
Those figures were strong, boosted by the weak pound. Revenue was up 23% to £3.61 billion in the period, or 7.6% on a “constant currency” basis that strips out the sterling effect.
The US is the strongest market, with the UK some way behind. “For clients that are heavily exposed to the UK, Brexit is front and centre in their thinking,” he said. Sir Martin doesn’t expect a surge in the world economy soon.
“The new normal is low growth,” he told the Standard.
Like-for-like revenue at WPP, behind the Kronenbourg ads with Eric Cantona, rose 3.2%, a slowdown from the 4.3% reported for its first half. That was still better than the growth forecast predicted by Goldman Sachs.
