Ride a black swan? WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell adds Russian crisis to his list August 26, 2014 The Sochi Winter Olympics in February were a key turning point in the West’s deteriorating relationship with Russia, says WPP boss Sir Martin Sorrell who now lists the Russian crisis as the most threatening of his unknown unknowns – or “black swans” – supplanting the Eurozone debt crisis. “I think we made a mistake [...]
Advertising giant WPP need not fret over black swans – Bottom Line August 26, 2014 The sun, I hope, has finally made an appearance this morning, to remind us that – despite this week’s cold and wind and rain – we are still, technically, in summertime. There have been several common themes to the summer months of 2014. A constant stream of miserable data about the Eurozone economy, is one. [...]
WPP share price rises as it reports profits ahead of forecast – but it’s been “ravaged” by strong pound August 26, 2014 WPP has reported a 1.5 per cent rise in headline pre-tax profits to £532m in the first half of the year, slightly ahead of forecasts. Taking into consideration currency differences, pre-tax profit grew 15 per cent as the world’s largest advertising group felt the effects of a strong pound. Reported revenue was up 2.7 per cent [...]
London Report: Consumers upbeat as momentum of recovery continues August 25, 2014 THE GFK consumer confidence survey, CBI Distributive Trades Survey and Nationwide house price data are the key economic reports in a quiet end-of-summer week before next week’s slew of rates, statistics and money supply data. Analysts expect consumer confidence to remain high, showing the continuing economic recovery. Today’s results come from Antofagasta, Bunzl, Kentz, Petrofac, [...]
Best of the Brokers for 20 August 2014 August 19, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com WPP Westhouse Securities has maintained a “buy” rating on WPP ahead of its interim results on 26 August, with a target price of 1,577p. The broker expects WPP to stay on track with its full year target of three per cent revenue growth [...]
Chris Hirst of ad agency Grey London believes it’s all about talent August 10, 2014 Liam Ward-Proud talks to Chris Hirst, chief executive of ad agency Grey London. It's fair to say that Grey London is one of the hottest creative agencies around at the moment. After a spell in the wilderness, the WPP-owned company returned to the limelight in 2012 with a series of gripping pieces, including the [...]
Elliott Management makes bold move on Interpublic July 24, 2014 US ACTIVIST hedge fund Elliott Management has taken a 6.7 per cent stake in Interpublic, the world’s fourth largest advertising company, in the hopes of pushing its management to consider a sale. The hedge fund run by Paul Singer disclosed its $570m (£335.6m) stake yesterday in a regulatory filing stating that it wants to “engage [...]
City Moves for 17 July 2014 | Who’s switching jobs July 16, 2014 Ropes & Gray Monica Gogna has been appointed partner in the law firm’s global investment funds group. She joins from Pinsent Masons, where she was a partner on its financial services team. Gogna has also worked for Clifford Chance, and trained at Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw. VTB Capital Nick Hutt has been appointed interim chief [...]
Beyond digital: What will the future look like for marketing services? July 13, 2014 WPP’S Sir Martin Sorrell released his list of the top 10 trends shaping the global advertising business last week. Alongside a shift in power to the South, East and South East of the world, and a brewing battle for talent, Sorrell discussed the continuing role of the internet in transforming marketing. While calling it [...]
Best of the Brokers for 09 July 2014 July 8, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com WPP Goldman Sachs has maintained its “buy” rating on the ad giant, but reduced its target price to 1,535p from 1,555p. The broker thinks that while growth in the second quarter met expectations, greater currency headwinds may have an impact. DOMINO PRINTING SCIENCES [...]