Advertising

Advertising momentum starts to fizzle

11 Mar 2004

Results have dashed investor hopes that the recovery in advertising might pick up speed. Investors have been riding the ad cycle indiscriminately. They will now have to get choosy.

Havas slips further behind Publicis

14 Nov 2003

Unlike Publicis, it recorded a drop in organic revenues this quarter. Unless it smartens up its act, the smaller of France's two advertising groups will see its already chunky discount to Publicis widen.

WPP climbs further out of the bath

28 Oct 2003

WPP may be climbing out the bath in 2004, but Sir Martin Sorrell is already talking down prospects for 2005. The advertising chief executive may be right, but shareholders shouldn t take his comments too literally.

WPP climbing out of the bath

22 Aug 2003

The advertising giant believes its forecast of a "bathshaped" recession, to end next year, is turning out pretty much as expected. Skilful expectations management has allowed Sir Martin Sorrell's acquisition machine to keep rolling in the meantime and pretty boldly.

Private equity exits key to raising funds

6 Aug 2003

Many big European private equity firms are struggling to raise money. The one exception is Permira, which raised E3bn in just four months. Its success shows that investors are looking for a proven track record of strong exits before opening their wallets again.

Cordiant bonuses under fire

24 Jul 2003

On the contrary. Those bonuses were merited by very hard work but on behalf of the firm's creditors, not its shareholders. Emptyhanded shareholders in the advertising group have blasted the "rewards for failure" that executives will get after its sale.

Chaos surrounds Cordiant

14 Jul 2003

Something very funny is going on when investors buy big stakes in this insolvent company at a premium to WPP's takeitorleave it offer. It looks like blackmail is on the ordre du jour, even though the air is thick with denials. Underhand tactics do not deserve to succeed.

Cordiant parachutes set stage for WPP’s AGM

27 Jun 2003

Whopping payouts to bosses at Cordiant, WPP's new acquisition, are ironic, since WPP's own governance will be under fire at Monday's AGM. The chief executive's deal defies rules that are surely made to be broken. But boardroom power has as much to do with it as his talents.

Cordiant shareholders refuse to submit

23 Jun 2003

Active Value, Cordiant's biggest shareholder, has kept stakebuilding. It could block WPP's token offer for the indebted ad agency's equity. Defiance when cornered is all very well. But WPP holds all the cards, and there is little sign of a rescuer on the horizon.

WPP takes Cordiant

19 Jun 2003

Sir Martin Sorrell's advertising giant has beaten Publicis's scheme to snatch the troubled agency. In doing so, he has demonstrated that a corporate giant can beat a vulture fund at the distressed debt game.

Cordiant in vulture’s clutches

16 Jun 2003

Bondholder Cerberus has vetoed a sale of the distressed media agency and teamed up with Publicis to dismember it. This pact looks bad for shareholders and other creditors. But can counterbidder WPP derail their plan without wrecking fragile Cordiant?

Wannabes eye up Carlton and Granada

9 Jun 2003

The ITV companies, in midmerger, are reported to be the object of bids involving Apax, Haim Saban, David Elstein, and Neil Blackley. The plot is more soap opera than drama. Shareholders will be best served by getting the merger done before looking for offers.

Cordiant says its shares are worthless

30 May 2003

The advertising group decided it had to warn investors that none of the bids its has received justifies even its minimal equity value. But tot up expected asset sales, and Cordiant's problems should be solved. Its debts must be much worse than they look.

Cordiant clings on

1 May 2003

The UK communications group has avoided delisting by a hair's breadth, and lenders will keep it afloat while it reviews options. But its problems are still glaring. Is it an isolated casualty, or a case study in what's happening to media agencies?

WPP shows improving trends

25 Apr 2003

The advertising market looks to be stabilising. WPP is also continuing to squeeze costs. But a snapback rally in advertising spending is not on the cards yet.

No peace dividend for advertising stocks

22 Apr 2003

With the war over, investors have realised that Iraq was only a temporary excuse for adfunded companies. They still do not know when any recovery might arrive. So welcome back volatility.

Big ad spenders object to Granada/Carlton merger

14 Apr 2003

Protests against the UK's governmentencouraged TV merger turn out to be led by the government's own adbuying agency. Happily, an independent regulator will sort the conflict of interest out although its rumoured scheme for doing so looks pretty wacky.

ITV pay rows bode ill for merger

28 Mar 2003

Shareholders are upset about directors' pay at both Carlton and Granada. But their merger brings a chance to start afresh, so why bother? What matters is whether a merged boardroom will work better than the existing ITV partnership. The signs are not encouraging.

WPP expects corrugated recovery

24 Feb 2003

The advertising bellwether isn't expecting much joy in its markets until 2004. Meanwhile, it is pulling out all the stops to keep investors happy with a strategy that still devotes most of their cash to acquisitions.

WPP raises double-dip fears

24 Oct 2002

Times are hard for the marketing giant. Despite new business wins, margins and cash generation are shrinking, and debt is on the way up. Chief executive Martin Sorrell has been a highprofile bear on the ad industry. So far as his own stock goes, that was good positioning.