WPP posts rising sales in first quarter

LONDON: WPP, the world's second-biggest advertising group, said on Friday that sales jumped in the first quarter, despite the uncertain global economic backdrop. Revenue rose sharply by 14.1 percent to 1.558 billion pounds (1.96 billion euros, 3.07 billion dollars) in the three months to March 31, compared with the same period of 2007, the group said in a trading update. WPP, which stands behind only US titan Omnicom in its sector, added that revenues climbed by five percent on a like-for-like basis, excluding the impact of acquisitions and currency movements.

"First-quarter growth reflected the continued steady overall economic environment, despite the continuing uncertainty stimulated by the credit and liquidity crisis and the much heralded slowdown in the United States," WPP said in the update. However, WPP acknowledged that it had experienced slowing sales growth in March. "Whilst January and February were strong across the board, both geographically and functionally, and indeed stronger than last year, March was slower, somewhat surprisingly in Western Continental Europe," it added. WPP noted that revenues were growing faster than during 2007 and said it was on target to achieve operating margins of 15.5 percent this year....