SHARES in WPP suffered their biggest daily fall in three decades yesterday after the advertising giant failed to deliver growth in the fourth quarter.

While the results were broadly in line with WPP's previous comments, a 1.9 per cent fall in fourth-quarter organic sales spooked investors.

It marks the first set of results since chief executive Mark Read set out a three-year transformation plan following the acrimonious departure of founder Sir Martin Sorrell.

The ad giant delivered a surprise return to growth in the third quarter, but was unable to maintain its momentum, as a downturn in its major markets meant fourth-quarter revenue was flat. Shares closed down more than 16 per cent to 761.6p.

WPP's principal strategy has been slimming down its business, including the $4bn (£3.2bn) sale of Kantar last year. The move has had a positive impact on WPP's debt pile, which was slashed from £4bn to £1.5bn over the year.

"From the perspective of delivering on our plan to return WPP to growth we had a good first year, notwithstanding pressures in the industry," Read told City A.M.

(c) 2020 City A.M., source Newspaper