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LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - WPP reported a return to
quarterly organic sales growth on Friday for the first time in
over a year, showing the world's biggest advertising company had
avoided the problems ensnaring French rival Publicis.
The British group said organic growth less pass-through
costs, its key sales measurement, rose 0.7% in the three months
to end September, an improvement on the previous quarter when it
dropped 1.4% and against a consensus of down 0.6%.
It said however that despite the improvement in trading it
was reiterating its full-year outlook for a drop of between 1.5%
and 2% because there would be twists and turns ahead.
The group showed improvement across all its regions, helped
by contract wins in the quarter including Mondelez and eBay.
WPP's performance has steadily improved through the year as
it recovers from the loss of work from clients such as Ford, and
embarks on a new strategy of merging agencies and changing
incentive schemes to produce a more joined-up service.
The update will provide relief to investors who were spooked
earlier this month when Publicis, the world's third biggest
advertising company, cut its full-year sales target for the
second time in 2019 due to a fall in spending by U.S. clients
and a weak performance by its digital arm.
"WPP's performance in the third quarter is another important
step in the strategy we outlined in December 2018 to return the
company to sustainable growth in line with our peers in 2021,"
Chief Executive Mark Read said.
(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Paul Sandle)