WPP 2016 Preliminary Results
Another record year, with strong currency tailwinds, particularly in the second half
Reported billings up 16.0% at £55.245 billion, up 5.5% in constant currency and 3.3% like-for-like
Reported revenue up 17.6% at £14.389 billion, up 3.7% at $19.379 billion, up 3.9% at €17.527 billion and down 7.0% at ¥2.107 trillion
Constant currency revenue up 7.2%, like-for-like revenue up 3.0%
Constant currency net sales up 7.4%, like-for-like net sales up 3.1%
Reported net sales margin of 17.4%, up 0.5 margin points against last year, up 0.2 margin points on a constant currency, up 0.3 margin points on a like-for-like basis, in line with the full year margin target adjusted for the merger with STW Communications Group Limited
Headline EBITDA £2.420 billion, up 20.8%, up 8.0% in constant currency
Headline profit before interest and tax £2.160 billion, over £2 billion for the first time, up 21.8% and up 8.5% in constant currency
Headline profit before tax £1.986 billion, up 22.4% and up 9.1% in constant currency
Profit before tax £1.891 billion, up 26.7%, up 12.5% in constant currency
Profit after tax £1.502 billion, up 20.6%, up 7.2% in constant currency
Headline diluted earnings per share of 113.2p, up 20.9%, up 7.7% in constant currency
Return on equity at 16.2% in 2016, down marginally from 16.3% in 2015 versus a weighted average cost of capital of 6.4% in 2016, also down from 6.7% in 2015
Dividends per share of 56.60p, up 26.7%, reaching the recently targeted pay-out ratio of 50% one year ahead of schedule and up from 47.7% last year
Net debt £4.131 billion at 31 December 2016, an increase of £920 million on same date in 2015, with average net debt in 2016 at £4.340 billion against £3.562 billion in 2015, primarily reflecting the weakness of sterling, although the average net debt to EBITDA ratio remains under 1.8x almost in the middle of the target range
Net new business of £4.360 billion ($6.757 billion) in the year continuing the good overall performance seen in the first nine months, but slower than the previous year
Above budget, but relatively slow start to 2017, with January like-for-like revenue up 1.5% and net sales up 1.2%, against stronger comparatives last year
Including associates and investments, revenue totals over $26 billion annually and people average over 205,000
