Last checked at 
* Q1 net sales -3.3%, March -7.9%
* Says Q2 will be worse
* Cutting more costs, cannot give an outlook
(Adds details, quote)
LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) - WPP said on Wednesday
the COVID-19 pandemic had forced its net sales down by 7.9% in
March and the world's biggest advertising company expects worse
to come, prompting it to cut yet more costs across the group.
The British owner of the Ogilvy, Grey and Hill+Knowlton
agencies has already moved quickly to cut costs, setting out a
plan on March 31 to pull the dividend and share buyback to save
around 2 billion pounds ($2.49 billion) in 2020 and see it
through a downturn in client spending.
"The second quarter is going to be tough and logic would
tell you that we had a partial impact in March and we'll start
to see the full impact around the world in the second quarter,"
Chief Executive Mark Read told Reuters.
First quarter net sales, called like-for-like revenue less
pass through costs, fell by 3.3%.
While the 107,000-employee group will be hit by the loss of
work from clients in the travel, autos and luxury sectors, more
than 50% of its work is for customers in consumer packaged
goods, technology and pharmaceuticals which are still spending.
"We expect the impact of COVID-19 on our business to
increase in the short term, but it is not possible to quantify
the depth or duration of the impact," it said.
"We are nonetheless confident that, through our scenario
planning, we are well positioned to take further action if the
downturn is prolonged and to respond positively when the market
picks up."
Leading rival Omnicom announced job cuts on Tuesday
while peers Publicis and IPG have taken other
cost-saving measures to get through the downturn.
Among additional cost-saving measures by WPP, the group has
introduced a voluntary salary sacrifice from over 3,000 senior
roles, put some staff on part-time working and cut some
headcount. It did not say how many jobs would go.
The company, in the middle of a three-year turnaround, had
reported a rebound in organic sales in the first two months,
excluding greater China, before it came to a halt.
Read said changes made to the group such as the sale of
market research arm Kantar meant it had the lowest net debt
since 2007. It has cash and undrawn facilities of 4.4 billion
pounds.
($1 = 0.8022 pounds)
(Reporting by Kate Holton;
Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew Cawthorne)
