WPP chief Sir Martin Sorrell has voiced fresh fears about the state of the world economy after the world’s largest advertising group experienced a dip in profits growth in September.
Commenting on conversations he has had with the bosses of some recent multinationals Sorrell said they had become ‘very, very cautious’.
Sorrell added: “We don't know why. Most clients saw a significant change in September. It could be that people came back from their holidays in August and looked at the rest of the year and were cautious."
Referring to four so called ‘grey swans’, known factors contributing to volatility, Sorrell said that the Arab Spring, Chinese slowdown, eurozone crisis and US fiscal deficit were all doing their bit to foster a climate of pessimism.
Sorrell’s doom and gloom followed a flatlining in WPP sales growth for the month of September after increasing by 3% in August, prompting WPP to downgrade its profit forecast for the year.
Rivals
Publicis Group have also recently warned of declining profit growth.