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LONDON, March 11 (Reuters) - WPP, the world's
biggest advertising company, said it would relaunch its buyback
scheme immediately after cost cuts and client wins helped it to
post full-year results that were slightly better than feared.
The owner of the Ogilvy, Grey and GroupM agencies reported a
fourth-quarter drop of underlying net sales of 6.5%, slightly
better than an analyst consensus of -6.7%, taking the full-year
drop to 8.2%.
It reiterated its guidance for 2021 of a mid-single digit
rise in underlying net sales, returning to growth in the second
quarter.
The British firm was hit hard at the start of the pandemic
when, in the middle of a strategy reset, clients stopped
spending to conserve cash.
It has now won new work by helping clients develop their
e-commerce and digital capabilities, such as helping Ford launch
a new car via online platforms when they couldn't open showrooms
and working with others to build commercial online marketplaces.
It said it had secured a "market-leading" $4.4 billion of
net new business from companies including Alibaba, HSBC, Intel,
Uber and Unilever. A reduction in headcount, the use of fewer
freelances and a massive cut to the travel budget helped the
group to save around 800 million pounds ($1.1 billion).
($1 = 0.7168 pounds)
(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and
Paul Sandle)
