Uncle_Doug
12 Jun 2019
Ex Dividend Today Ticked up over £10 today. Up 25% since Feb 1tth. Good bullish sign for future.
picstIoup
24 Apr 2019
Ex Dividend Today Finally dipped my toe in these, picking up a few at £9.12 to use up some of this year’s ISA sub, hoping for maintained division and/or a juicy takeover premium
Ripley94
25 Oct 2018
Accenture to bid for WPP? WWP… XXXX So much for FT 100 less risk idea … this fell 18 % . lse chat… “its going bustâ€
Uncle_Doug
14 Jun 2018
Ex Dividend Today Sp at £12. Don’t panic. Reason for drop maybe the 37p dividend…although it’s dropped 57p this month. Still, strong buy at £12 IMO and juicy divvies.
Uncle Doug
01 Jun 2018
Re: Dagnabbit Waited enough - added some more @1225.
Uncle Doug
23 May 2018
Dagnabbit Hmm - just when it seemed things were getting better we get a one day 5% retrace. Might sit and wait this one out a bit ...
Our Haven
30 Apr 2018
Re: Statement The market is relieved therefore the price is rising nicely.
Greyinvestor
30 Apr 2018
Statement Statement out today; not brilliant, not terrible, in my view. Pretty much what you would expect, buffetted by currency headwinds. A Hold/Weak Buy for me......
Greyinvestor
17 Apr 2018
Buy I'm down 19% on my WPP, which is pretty frustrating when you have a large holding. But....In my view WPP has become an agglomoration of different businesses, some of which will fetch decent prices and will streamline the business when disposed of.MS should have done the streamlining himself. He was a super smart guy, but didn't seem to be a seller as well as a buyer.In my view the release of hidden value should at least improve the share price. I'm hopeful of recovering my losses. Were I not a holder, I'd be buying now.This reminds me of Aberdeen Asset Management; overborrowed, groaning a bit, but a good core.
Clitheroekid
16 Apr 2018
Re: small drop so far.... "One of the unwritten rules of investing is NEVER buy on the hope of a takeover. "I suspect the reason it's unwritten is that it's not a rule of investing.On the contrary, I've made some of my best and quickest profits from buying shares in the hope / expectation that they would be taken over. A recent example is Fenner, which I'd bought back in February at just under £4.54. Following the bid the price jumped on 20 March to around £6.10.Another was IWG, bought at £2.09 in October, after a big price slump, which rose to £2.54 in December following a bid, and subsequently rose as high as £2.75. Admittedly, the bid didn't go through, but they're still trading at around £2.50, so a decent profit even if the shares had been held following the bid.Of course there are many situations where the rumours come to nothing, but to completely rule it out as a strategy is to miss out on some great opportunities.Watch this space!
Hardboy
16 Apr 2018
Re: small drop so far.... "I strongly expect a bid to be made that will be at a decent premium to today's price"One of the unwritten rules of investing is NEVER buy on the hope of a takeover. Although it's a possibility I'd be very surprised if anyone did make a bid for WPP in its entirety (unless it was to cherry pick the bits wanted and sell on the others.) As the largest Advertising Agency in the World anyone looking to buy it would be considerably more than doubling their own size. Is anyone around who can cope with that assort of increase in operations? I suppose the possibility is that one of the tech giants may see it as a logical way to diversify, but then it would be running a completely different type of business. The 2 COOs are probably relishing their newly extended roles, and will doubtless have their own ideas about the best way to go.
Clitheroekid
16 Apr 2018
Re: small drop so far.... "A surprise the drop is so small. "I wouldn't call a near 7% drop `small'. However, I would call it an excellent buying opportunity. I strongly expect a bid to be made that will be at a decent premium to today's price, so I'm in.
Bill1703
16 Apr 2018
Broker soundbites on CEO exit Edited highlights....NUMIS"We expect the group to consider internal and external candidates and believe Sir Martin will be hard to replace with one person. The succession has led to questions over the size and scope of WPP and we can see a change of management accelerating the current process of reducing overlap and increasing flexibility. Although we would not rule out a margin reset, we do not view WPP's margins as out of step with the industry given its functional and geographic split, in addition to a reporting structure which increases margins relative to peers both by reducing the numerator and increasing the denominator. We do see scope for the group to put dividend increases and buybacks into abeyance given its already high payout ratio and leverage at the top end of its target debt corridor. Our base case is for a new management team to continue and refine the existing strategy, though we acknowledge that any group without a CEO is vulnerable to a bid approach in the interregnum."CITI"It is hard to understate the influence Sir Martin Sorrell has had on the entire marketing industry let alone WPP. In the early years, Sir Martin’s role was a portfolio manager, deciding what areas WPP should have exposure to. More recently, his role has been more focused on making sure the various parts of the portfolio work together and acting as a figurehead/ spokesperson for the group. The new CEO will need that same combination of skills. In literally the last year, WPP has been seen by many to be losing its way. Against the backdrop of an improving macro environment, organic growth has been slowing. Anyone coming in to take over the CEO role at WPP will be entirely focused on turning this round. The slow fix is fairly straightforward in that it is the existing group strategy. The quick fix is to look at asset disposals as a way of managing the group to faster growth, something that Sir Martin was loathe to consider. It is not clear whether the current margin targets or dividend payout will survive a change of management. But then again, valuation is so depressed (10x 2018E P/E) we think value will out. We rate WPP as a Buy."PANMURE"After Sorrell’s exit and interim replacement by two internal COO’s, WPP is now firmly in play. But no easy solutions here. Not really a turnaround situation (core business already experiencing structural pressures from digital disruption, co v tightly run in terms of costs & margins, will struggle in upcoming pitches in the near term, Sorrell can set up in competition). Not an easy break-up situation (definitely has surplus assets, eg. market research, ad tech, healthcare, other specialist) but hard to argue disposals would drive much re-rating (eg in mkt research, Nielsen/IPSOS trade on 9.3x/8.4x ebitda vs WPP currently on 7.9x ebitda 18e). Possible takeover target (for private equity to break up, for Accenture/Deloittes to get much bigger in digital marketing, for Dentsu maybe among existing competitors) – but big bite for any of these at c$34bn EV/c10x ebitda to acquire."CREDIT SUISSE"Due to the centralized way Sir Martin Sorrell ran the company his departure raises the risk of a) account losses, b) talent leakage, c) break-up and sale of some divisions and d) a deep restructuring with a great deal of cost and uncertainty. In our view all ofthe above would have happened anyway at the point the CEO chose to leave. In our view the company is likely to eventually adopt a similar strategy to Publicis based on the convergence of marketing and consulting."
II Editor
16 Apr 2018
NEW ARTICLE: Chart of the week: WPP shares in the 'buy zone' "Time to put WPP into your wire shopping basket?With Sorrell staging a well-publicised departure, is it time to take a look at the upside potential of Wire and Plastic Products? After all, the advertising giant's shares have been in a savage ..."[link]
II Editor
16 Apr 2018
NEW ARTICLE: Why equities are struggling and new era at WPP "Even though investors have moved past the Syria missile strikes and are working on the basis that there will be no extended conflict or market-adverse retaliation, equity markets are struggling for direction. This lack of positive reaction is a ..."[link]
