Ad group WPP says client wins help trading to improve

The world's biggest advertising company WPP said client wins from Uber, Alibaba and HSBC had helped it to report an improvement in third-quarter underlying trading. The British owner of the Ogilvy, Grey and GroupM agencies said its like-for-like net sales fell by 7.6% in the three months to the end of September, compared with a second-quarter drop of 15.1%.

WPP, which has seen clients slash spending to conserve cash, said it was on track to hit the upper end of a 700-800 million pound cost reduction target, and was on track for analyst expectations.