WPP resumes £620m share buyback as it eyes return to growth March 11, 2021 WPP today said it would resume its £620m share buyback programme and restore its dividend as the advertising giant eyes a return to growth this year. The London-listed ad group halted the buyback, funded by its $4bn sale of Kantar in 2019, and the payout due to the pandemic. But it today said up to [...]
WPP buys Brazilian software engineering firm DTI Digital February 10, 2021 Creative transformation company WPP has acquired DTI Digital, a leading digital innovation and software engineering firm. DTI’s digital services help clients become more connected to their customers, through the development of support systems such as data collection software. The Brazilian company scales up its expert development teams in response to client needs, comprising more than [...]
WPP signs early access advertising deal with Tiktok February 1, 2021 WPP has secured an advertising partnership with Tiktok, marking a key step in the holding group’s efforts to cash in on the wildly popular video app. The tie-up will give WPP’s clients early access to Tiktok’s new advertising services while they are under development, which the ad giant said will ensure they remain “at the [...]
Ads giant WPP turns to tech to restore growth after accounting error December 17, 2020 WPP, the world's biggest advertising company, set out its plans to restore revenue growth to pre-pandemic levels by 2022.
WPP client wins help revenue decline slow October 29, 2020 Ad giant WPP reported another fall in sales in the third quarter but the pace of decline slowed from the previous quarter. The British owner of the Ogilvy, Grey and GroupM agencies said its like-for-like sales had dropped by 5.5 per cent to £2.97bn, compared with a 11.5 per cent drop in the previous quarter. [...]
Former Baidu president joins WPP board October 26, 2020 The former boss of Chinese search engine Baidu has joined the board of London-based advertising giant WPP, the company confirmed this morning. Ya-Qin Zhang, who was president of Baidu for five years starting in 2014, will formally take up the role as a non-executive director on WPP’s board early next year. Roberto Quarta, chairman of [...]
WPP revenue slumps as clients slash marketing budgets during Covid-19 crisis April 29, 2020 WPP today posted a sharp drop in revenue in March as clients across the globe slashed marketing budgets due to the coronavirus crisis. The advertising giant reported a 7.9 per cent fall in like-for-like revenue last month, while revenue slipped 3.3 per cent in the first quarter as a whole. The Covid-19 crisis has taken [...]
WPP pulls dividend, outlook and share buyback as coronavirus hits ad sales March 31, 2020 WPP has cancelled its dividend and share buyback and suspended its guidance for 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic forces a growing number of the advertising giant’s clients to cancel work. The world’s biggest advertising company has launched a cost-cutting drive in response to the outbreak, identifying £800m of savings that can be made for 2020, [...]
WPP snaps up data science firm Sandtable as it doubles down on tech March 5, 2020 WPP today said it has acquired data science company Sandtable as the ailing advertising giant looks to shift its focus to tech. The holding group said it had acquired the London-based firm through its Group M media division. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sandtable, which was founded in 2009, specialises in behavioural analytics, [...]
WPP shares rise as it bags bumper Intel account March 3, 2020 Shares in WPP rose more than three per cent this morning after Intel selected one of the ad giant’s companies as its global creative agency of record. VMLY&R is set to take the lion’s share of Intel’s global creative account, which is estimated at $1.4bn (£1.1bn), according to industry sources. The deal, which is thought [...]