WPP reports 12.1% jump in profit as CEO Martin Sorrell remains bullish on China

WPP, the advertising and PR Giant, reported a 12.1% jump in pre-tax profits to £596m over its first half year of 2015.

The company reported on Wednesday (26 August) that net sales were up 2.3% on a like-for-like basis. WPP said in the statement that the company needed to stay positive as it books positive results, despite a challenging market.

The press release continued:"General client behaviour does not reflect that state of mind as tepid GDP growth, low or no inflation and consequent lack of pricing power encourage a focus on cutting costs to reach profit targets, rather than revenue growth."

The company managed to increase its margins by 0.3 percentage points which would allow it to maintain its profit outlook for the full year. WPP performed best in its UK division, with worldwide sales going up on a constant currency basis.

It did however report an increase in its net debt by 9% to £3.13bn as the company made large investments and continued its share buy-back programme.

China

Sorrell, the ebullient chief of the advertising firm remained bullish on the global market, despite concerns from the Chinese stock market crash, which has wiped off more than $1tn worth of equities in just a couple of days. The company told investors that "concerns about China, aggravated by the recent RMB devaluation and stock market decline, and Brazil remain, although we remain unabashed bulls of both".

On Thursday, Sorrell confirmed on the BBC's Today Programme that he was still positive about what China could bring. He said: "China has been the biggest driver of the world economy."

"They ain't done too bad with a five-year planned economy since 1985," he said, adding that China's prospects needed to be seen in the light of "30 years of growth and expansion and the hundreds of millions of people taken out of poverty and moved into lower-middle or middle class".