WPP 2017 Interim Results
Reported billings up 6.3% at £26.906 billion, down 4.7% in constant currency
Reported revenue up 13.3% at £7.404 billion, down 0.4% at $9.328 billion, up 2.7% at €8.609 billion and up 0.4% at ¥1.047 trillion
Constant currency revenue up 1.9%, like-for-like revenue down 0.3%
Constant currency net sales up 2.2%, like-for-like net sales down 0.5%
Reported net sales margin of 13.9%, up 0.2 margin points versus last year, flat in constant currency and up 0.1 margin points like-for-like
Headline reported profit before interest and tax £882 million up 14.7%, and up 1.9% in constant currency
Headline profit before tax £793 million up 15.0%, up 1.8% in constant currency
Profit before tax £779 million up 83.3%, up 52.4% in constant currency primarily reflecting net exceptional costs in the first half of 2016 of £122 million and gains on the fair value of financial instruments in the first half of 2017
Reported profit after tax £634 million up 124.7%, up 80.6% in constant currency
Headline diluted earnings per share 45.4p up 16.1%, up 2.4% in constant currency
Reported diluted earnings per share 46.6p up 146.6%, up 95.1% in constant currency
Dividends per share 22.7p up 16.1%, a pay-out ratio of 50%, in line with target
Share buy-backs of £290 million in the first half, up from £197 million last year, equivalent to 1.3% of the issued share capital against 1.0% last year
Return on equity up strongly at 16.9% for the 12 months to 30 June 2017 from 15.5% for the previous 12 months period. The weighted average cost of capital at 30 June 2017 was 6.3% down slightly from 6.4% at 31 December 2016
Including associates and investments, revenue totals over $26 billion annually and people average over 200,000
Reported EBITDA £1.016 billion, over £1 billion for the first time in a half-year period, up 14.2%, up 1.7% in constant currency
n Net new business momentum returned together with leadership of net new business league tables in the first half-year and beyond
