WPP confirmed as world’s top marketing holding company with billings up 12.6% to US$65 billion
WPP, the holding company of ad agency networks including Ogilvy, JWT, Y&R and Grey, has announced the unaudited preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2010, the Group’s twenty-fifth year.
The results confirm recent announcements that WPP – which Sir Martin Sorrell (left) started in 1985 – is now the world’s biggest advertising and marketing services holding company, ahead of former #1 Omnicom.
The following is from the WPP release overnight: Following a brutal 2009, when the post-Lehman financial world did not come to an end, as some had feared, 2010 was a year of significant recovery, as clients re-focused on top-line sales growth and expansion, particularly in faster-growth geographic markets, as well as continued cost containment in the slower-growth markets of the United States and Western Europe. The recovery from the dark days of 13/14 September 2008 has been remarkable.
Reportable revenue was up 7.4% to £9.331 billion. Revenue, including 100% of associates, was £11.643 billion. On a constant currency basis, revenue was up 5.6%, primarily reflecting the comparative weakness of the pound sterling against most currencies, other than the Euro. As a number of our competitors report in US dollars and the Euro and inter-currency comparisons are difficult to make, Appendices 2 and 3 show WPP’s preliminary results in reportable US dollars and Euros respectively. This shows, for example, that US dollar reportable revenues were up 6.0% at $14.4 billion, which compares with the $12.5 billion of our closest competitor and that Euro reportable revenues were up 11.7% at €10.9 billion.
Headline earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (“Headline EBITDA”) were $2.218 billion compared to $1.713 billion for our nearest competitor.
Like-for-like revenues, excluding the impact of acquisitions and on a constant currency basis, were up 5.3%, reflecting a continuation of the sequential improvement seen in the first three quarters, into the final quarter, with like-for-like growth of 8.5%, the fastest rate of quarterly growth seen since the fourth quarter of 2000. December saw the first monthly double-digit growth rate since January 2001.
KEY POINTS:
Billings up over 12% to £42.7 billion
Revenue up over 7% to £9.3 billion
Like-for-like revenue up well over 5%
Headline EBITDA up almost 16% to £1.44 billion
Headline operating margin 13.2% up 1.5 margin points well ahead of target
Headline operating profit before interest and tax up almost 21% to £1.23 billion
Headline profit before tax up over 27% to over £1 billion for the first time
Diluted headline earnings per share up almost 28% at a record 56.7p
Second interim dividend up 15% at 11.82p per share
10 Comments
I hope AWARD didn’t confirm it.
“Havin’ a ball, rollin’ to the bottom.”
Shame nobody in their right mind would want to work for the greedy f*cks
Smells like retail.
Reading this just makes me feel so much better as I’m being fxcked up the xss by these chuntz. They just make their billions by putting suppliers out of business.
An incredible achievement. And it’s narrow-minded fools responsible for the first four comments who’ve made it that much easier for him to achieve.
I’m glad they made an extra $8.19billion, makes me feel so good knowing that is where all our budget cuts have ended up. Well done you dumb ass wankers
I’ve seen this movie the Emperor gets defeated by rebel forces.
So i guess they’ll win Holding Company of the Year at Cannes?
@5:19
What a sorry apologist you are for the anti-creative, anti-competitive force that is WPP. Martin Sorrell is the Rupert Murdoch of the ad business, a monopoly capitalist who destroys invention in the industry by favouring bottom line thinking over inspirational creative work, and by utilising business strategies that are at best in restraint of trade and at worst predatory.
The corporate greed that you celebrate with your comment has succeeded in putting allot of very talented people out of business here in Australia via the WPP agencies who’ve fostered in-house organisations like Plush, and the result is that a once vibrant and highly creative industry finds itself struggling to be a shadow of what it once was.
Your smugness will be very poorly received by the vast majority of your fellows on this blog and int he industry at large.