23rd May 2018 12:30
LONDON (Alliance News) - WPP PLC has lost HSBC Holdings PLC as a media client to rival corporate communications company Omnicom Group Inc, according the Financial Times.
According to the newspaper, the Asia-focused bank has moved its USD400 million media buying account following a global agency review.
HSBC has been a client of WPP's media agency, Mindshare, for the past 15 years, the FT said.
Head of Marketing at HSBC, Leanne Cutts, told the FT: “We periodically evaluate all marketing service suppliers to ensure we maintain the best working relationships to support our strategic goals.”
https://www.ft.com/content/790db1aa-5dee-11e8-9334-2218e7146b04?desktop=true
This is another blow for the FTSE 100 public relations and media-buying company after its chief executive and founder, Martin Sorrell, resigned in April following an investigation into his alleged misuse of funds.
Additionally, Ford Motor Co invited other companies to pitch for some of the GBP500 million business it currently gives WPP.
In April WPP reported a drop in quarterly revenue, hit by its North American performance.
The ad agency giant said its revenue fell 4.0% to GBP3.6 billion for the three months to the end of March from GBP3.7 billion for the same period in 2017. On a constant currency basis, revenue rose 2.0% while like-for-like revenue was up 0.8%.
WPP said business in the UK, Asia Pacific and Latin America was up strongly, offset by declines in North America and western continental Europe.
Shares in WPP were down 0.9% Wednesday to 1,347.50 pence each. HSBC Holdings was trading flat at 746.00p.
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