WPP hit by shake-up

WPP’S profits plunged by almost a third after it launched a shakeup and lost several big clients.

The advertising group said profits fell 30.6pc to £1.46bn in 2018, with sales down 1.3pc to £15.6bn.

Chief executive Mark Read, who took the reins after founder Sir Martin Sorrell was ousted last year, is pressing on with a major overhaul of the business for the digital age.

In the past year, WPP has also lost business from big-name clients such as HSBC, Ford, Pepsi and United Airlines.

And it warned the tough conditions would continue this year as it continued with Read’s plan to slash thousands of jobs and cut costs. But in a sign the results were not as bad as investors feared after a year of upheaval, shares surged 4.9pc, or 40.4p, to 866.2p. Read pointed to some recent successes, including WPP winning work from Volkswagen and Glaxosmithkline, as further reasons for optimism.

He added: ‘It’s early days in what we need to do, but I would say the initial signs are promising.’

Under Read’s plan to make the company leaner and more techfocused, WPP is merging 100 offices, slashing 3,500 jobs worldwide and cutting costs by £275m a year.