The macro challenges cutting short advertising budgets among the world’s largest spenders are inescapable. The second profit warning from Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital in just three months has not, surprisingly, unnerved investors in his old shop, WPP.
However, there is reason to think that the latter might sustain less of a bruising than Sorrell’s latest venture has endured. Unlike S4, WPP has been unburdened by hype.
Since the outlook darkened at the start of last year, its shares have traded at between seven and 13 times forward earnings. At the top-end that is less than half the peak earnings multiple for S4 Capital over the same period.
WPP now sits close to the bottom of the valuation range, not just since the onset of
