WPP plc WPP has not enjoyed a good first half to the year and what on the face of it appear to be very healthy growth in profits ,are distorted by comparison with the first half of 2016 when there were exceptional net costs of 122m. On a constant currency and like for like basis 2017 has really been a year of slow decline save for the UK which was the strongest performing region in the second quarter with like for like revenue up by 5.8%
Revenue is perhaps the best guideline as to the true state of affairs for the half year and on a constant currency basis it rose by a meagre 1.9% which turned into a fall of 0.3% on a like for like basis. Like for like net sales also fell by 0.5%. Reported billings fared even worse with a fall of 4.7% in constant currency. Reported EBITDA showed a constant currency rise of 1.7%. Helped by the distortions of last years exceptional costs profit before tax showed a rise of 83.3% and reported diluted earnings per share were up by 95.1%
Things have got worse as the company enters its second half year with current trading in July behind both budget and forecast as like for like revenue and net sales fell by 4.1% and 2.6% respectively.
NMC Health plc NMC produced a strong performance in the six months to the 30th June with good progress made cross all parts of the group. Reported revenue rose by 34%, EBITDA by 47.3% and adjusted net profit by 56%
Tesco plc TSCO opens its compensation scheme today for investors who were net buyers of shares or certain types of Tesco bonds between 29th August 2014 and 19th September 2014. The compensation amounts to 24.5p per share plus interest at 4% for retail investors.
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