PARIS (Dow Jones)--WPP PLC (WPP.LN), the world's largest advertising company by revenue, Tuesday said it still expects to post around 2% organic revenue growth this year as advertising markets continue to improve. In a statement, coinciding with the group's annual general meeting in Dublin, WPP said organic revenue grew 2% in the first five months of the year, on a strong rebound in U.S. advertising spending and growth in Asia. In the U.S., organic revenue growth--a closely watched metric in the ad industry that strips out acquisitions, disposals and currency movements--was up "well over 5%" in the first five months and over 7% in April and May, WPP said. The U.K. has also improved since January, posting organic revenue growth of over 4% in both April and May, the group said. Continental Europe, however, remained flat in the first five months, while in mainland China organic revenue was up over 7%, and in India almost 12%. On a reported basis, group revenue was up 1.8% over the first five months, WPP added. Last week, WPP Chief Executive Martin Sorrell said WPP was running ahead of its budget both in terms of organic revenue and profit margins, and that the group's 2% organic revenue target was "probably on the conservative side." -By Ruth Bender, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 40 17 17 54; ruth.bender@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 29, 2010 07:37 ET (11:37 GMT)
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