WPP thanks design for profits

WPP Group last week credited design consultancies for a major contribution to worldwide profit growth of more than 15 per cent.

The figures represent the fruits of branding and identity activities, together with specialist communications and healthcare work, during the first five months of this year.

The media group highlighted design consultancies Enterprise IG, BDG McColl and Walker Group/CNI Retail in New York as top performers, and declared an increase in sector profits of almost 11 per cent. UK activity has increased by 13 per cent and continental Europe is up 12 per cent.

Public relations and public affairs performed best in percentage terms, up 26 per cent, while growth in its advertising activity, WPP’s biggest single sector, was only 4 per cent.

“For the first time non-advertising interests accounted for 50 per cent of WPP Group’s activity. Its growth in advertising is pretty much in line with the global growth of the industry,” says a WPP spokesman.

A WPP board of directors statement reads: “The company continues to make small to medium- sized acquisitions or investments in high growth geographical or functional areas. These are concentrated geographically in the US, Europe and Latin America.”

Other WPP Group design consultancy interests include Coley Porter Bell, Addison, Scott Stern Associates, Banner McBride, BPRI and Oakley Young.