Good progress against three year plan: simpler business, stronger balance sheet, full year guidance delivered
Key figures – continuing operations
£ million | 2019 | Δ reported1 | Δ constant2 | Δ LFL3 | 20184 |
Billings | 53,059 | -0.3% | -1.4% | -1.0% | 53,220 |
Revenue | 13,234 | 1.4% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 13,047 |
Revenue less pass-through costs | 10,847 | -0.3% | -1.5% | -1.6% | 10,876 |
Headline EBITDA5 | 1,830 | -5.3% | -5.6% | 1,933 | |
Headline operating profit6 | 1,561 | -5.5% | -5.6% | 1,651 | |
Headline operating margin6 | 14.4% | -0.8* | -0.6* | -1.2* | 15.2% |
Headline PBIT6 | 1,623 | -5.8% | -6.0% | 1,723 | |
Profit before tax | 982 | -21.9% | -22.3% | 1,258 | |
Profit after tax | 707 | -29.4% | -30.3% | 1,002 | |
Diluted EPS6 | 49.8p | -33.0% | -33.8% | 74.3p | |
Headline diluted EPS6 | 78.1p | -14.6% | -14.9% | 91.4p | |
Dividends per share | 60.0p | - | - | 60.0p |
* Margin points
Full year and Q4 financial highlights
Strategic highlights and 2020 guidance
Mark Read, Chief Executive Officer, WPP:
“2019 was the foundational year for the new WPP strategy, and thanks to the hard work of all our colleagues we have made substantial progress in a short period of time.
“We said that we would make progress in the journey to return WPP to growth, simplifying our business and reducing our debt, and we have delivered against each of these goals – having met our guidance for 2019, achieved our restructuring targets and completed the sale of a majority stake in Kantar. The second half of 2019 was stronger than the first, with performance improving globally and in the United States, our largest market.
“Our new offer of creativity powered by technology has resonated with clients, as we’ve seen in good retention rates and important wins. New creative assignments include Instagram and Mondelez, and AXA, eBay and Hasbro were among the media wins.
“Perhaps most importantly, our clients and our people tell us that WPP has a clear new sense of purpose and is successfully instilling a culture of creativity, collaboration and openness. As we enter the second year of our three-year turnaround plan, our ability to attract and retain the best people is key to long-term growth.
“I am optimistic about the future of our industry and WPP’s position within it, although there is still much more work to do. The marketing landscape has never been more dynamic and complex: clients need our help and expertise more than ever. With our market-leading scale and global footprint, allied to the creativity of our agencies and our technology leadership, we are confident of further progress against our 2021 targets.”
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Percentage change in reported sterling Percentage change at constant currency exchange rates Like-for-like growth at constant currency exchange rates and excluding the effects of acquisitions and disposals Prior year figures have been re-presented in accordance with IFRS 5: Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations, as described in note 2 of Appendix 1 Headline EBITDA (including depreciation of right-of-use assets) Headline measures, diluted EPS and net working capital are defined in Appendix 1 The basis of measures including Kantar is set out in Appendix 1 |
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Richard Oldworth, +44 20 7466 5000 Buchanan Communications +44 7710 130 634
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