The world's second-biggest advertising group said today there had been no pick-up in the industry since the end of last year as it reported a slip in first-quarter revenues.
The first quarter is pretty similar to the fourth quarter of last year, WPP Group chief executive Mr Martin Sorrell said. He said there had been no change in market conditions and the outlook was uncertain.
Counteracting the effect of WPP's many acquisitions, revenues fell by almost 9 per cent from the same quarter last year, in line with analysts' expectations.
They will have to register some strong growth in the second half in order to hit their operating margin target, said one fund manager who holds WPP stock.
The advertising industry was hit last year by fallout from the dot-com collapse, an economic downturn and the aftermath of September 11th.
Smaller British advertising company Cordiant added to the downbeat mood when it said profits had more than halved last year and forecast no revenue growth this year.