LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - WPP, the world's
biggest advertising company, said net sales fell 3.3% in the
first quarter, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic dragging
it down by 7.9% in March alone, prompting it to cut more costs.
It said it expected the impact from COVID-19 to increase in
the short term, but could not say by how much.
The owner of the Ogilvy, Grey and Hill+Knowlton agencies has
already set out steps to cut around 2 billion pounds in 2020 to
see it through a downturn in client spending, including pulling
the dividend and a share buyback.
It said on Wednesday it could still not predict the scale of
the outcome but said it could flex costs against a range of
scenarios to manage profit and cash flow.
(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)