Latest news with #MartinSorrell
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This FTSE 100 stock yields 9.36% but I still wouldn't touch it with a bargepole!
I'm always on the hunt for an ultra high-yielding FTSE 100 stock or two. I've added plenty to my portfolio lately, including M&G and Phoenix Group Holdings, both yielding more than 10% at the time. They've done well too. Their share prices are up 22% and 17%, respectively, over 12 months. Throw in those bumper dividends, and my total one-year return is around 30% on both. I'm happy with that. Many of my recent buys have come from the financial sector, which looked dirt cheap with price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios of six or seven. That value is now starting to show through. Now another stock has caught my attention, in another sector. Media and advertising giant WPP (LSE: WPP) currently offers the single highest yield on the FTSE 100 at 9.36%, and it's trading on a low P/E of 8.6. Should I buy in? I love a good recovery story but this one has a massive task ahead of it. The advertising giant has struggled since driving force Martin Sorrell departed in 2018. It's been battling to retain major clients, simplify its sprawling structure after years of acquisitions and catch up with digital-first rivals. It's already lost its crown as the world's biggest ad firm to France's Publicis. It faces further pressure from the $13.25bn merger of US rivals Omnicom and Interpublic. We can now add artificial intelligence to the headaches list. Outgoing CEO Mark Read admitted that AI is 'totally disrupting our business'. That doesn't really inspire long-term confidence. While WPP was an early adopter of the tech, the threat is existential. Meta's automated ad tools and TikTok's campaign-builder software now let companies run slick campaigns with minimal outside help. Sam Altman, boss of OpenAI, reckons AI will soon do 95% of the work currently handled by marketing agencies. If he's even close to right, WPP could be fighting for its future. On 9 July, WPP issued a profit warning. It now expects organic revenue less pass-through costs to fall by 3% to 5%, with operating margins also declining. That compares to previous guidance of flat growth and margins. Second-quarter sales disappointed as clients slashed ad budgets. Redundancy costs are also mounting. The shares plunged 13% on the day. Over 12 months, they're down 42%. The 9.36% yield is only that high because the share price collapsed. A week ago, it was 7.5%. That's a red flag. All hopes now rest on incoming CEO Cindy Rose, who starts in September. Her CV is impressive, and her tech background helped her land the challenging role. But this won't be an easy turnaround. WPP has warned that the tough trading is likely to persist. As AI usage spreads, this could snowball. The WPP dividend has been frozen at 39.4p per share since 2022. A cut is surely coming. WPP is still profitable, has strong industry roots and if its new boss drives through a turnaround it could be a lucrative pick. But when the fundamentals are shifting this fast, I'd rather steer clear. My biggest investment mistakes have involved buying too soon after a profit warning, and getting hit by further shocks. No matter how tempting the yield looks today, this is one FTSE 100 high-yielder I'm going to avoid. The post This FTSE 100 stock yields 9.36% but I still wouldn't touch it with a bargepole! appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Harvey Jones has positions in M&g Plc and Phoenix Group Plc. The Motley Fool UK has recommended M&g Plc and Meta Platforms. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025 Sign in to access your portfolio
Times
12-07-2025
- Business
- Times
How do you solve a problem like WPP, the FTSE's faded ad giant?
F ive years ago, Cindy Rose told me how Microsoft boss Satya Nadella set out to change the tech giant's collective mindset. 'He often says, 'If you want to be cool, go work for someone else,' ' said Rose, then-head of Microsoft in the UK. ' 'If you want to make other people cool, come work for Microsoft.' ' WPP, the advertising holding company where Rose will take over as chief executive in September, has struggled to do either in recent years. The unceremonious exit of founder Sir Martin Sorrell; cultural strife related to the merging of agencies; a staff revolt over a four-days-a-week-in-the-office edict, and big client losses have contributed to a more than halving of the share price since 2018 — making for an uncomfortable comparison with French rival Publicis.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Business chiefs warn Labour against ‘anti-growth' wealth tax
A new wealth tax under Labour risks sparking an exodus of entrepreneurs from Britain, business chiefs have warned. Sir Rocco Forte, Sir Martin Sorrell and Sir Philip Hampton are urging Downing Street to ignore calls for a new levy, which they said would scare off the rich and damage growth. The City grandees have weighed in on the debate after Lord Kinnock, the former Labour leader, suggested the Government was 'willing to explore' bringing in a new wealth tax. Sir Rocco, who runs his eponymous hotel chain, said any potential levy would only increase the number of entrepreneurs quitting the country after the Government's non-dom tax raid. He said: 'Labour has already seen a huge exodus of wealthy people which is ongoing, with many more due to leave before the Budget. A wealth tax will further exacerbate the problem.' This embedded content is not available in your region. Sir Martin, the chief executive of advertising firm S4 Capital, added: 'It would result in people leaving the country and not just wealthy people or people who've accumulated those assets but people who were looking to accumulate assets over time.' Sir Philip, the former Royal Bank of Scotland chairman, said it would be a 'very anti-growth policy' that would jeopardise tax-raising efforts. He said: 'What you lose most by having things like the wealth taxes is the people who can invest in the country. 'Those are exactly the sort of people you want, people who are going to work hard and contribute to society as well as becoming well off and making high tax payments. 'I can't think of a business sector that wouldn't be adversely affected by this.' Their criticism represents a firm rejection of the plans put forward by Lord Kinnock, who said the Government could raise an extra £10bn a year by imposing a 2pc tax on assets worth more than £10m. His comments came after the ministers were warned that taxes would have to be raised following the Prime Minister's welfare about-turn last week. Sir Philip said: 'I think it's a very strange idea from a party that was elected to try to secure economic growth. 'It's in contradiction to the election manifesto that the Labour Party fought the last election on.' Sir Martin said that a wealth tax threatened to drive people abroad: 'Trying to distribute a smaller cake doesn't work. What you should be trying to do is trying to create a bigger cake.' In the UK today, the top 1pc of earners pay around 28.5pc of all income tax, according to analysis of HM Revenue & Customs figures. Sir Rocco said: 'The Government has already created a declining economy with large reductions in employment. A wealth tax will make things much worse and further discourage investment.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Sign in to access your portfolio
Telegraph
07-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Business chiefs warn Labour against ‘anti-growth' wealth tax
A new wealth tax under Labour risks sparking an exodus of entrepreneurs from Britain, business chiefs have warned. Sir Rocco Forte, Sir Martin Sorrell and Sir Philip Hampton are urging Downing Street to ignore calls for a new levy, which they said would scare off the rich and damage growth. The City grandees have weighed in on the debate after Lord Kinnock, the former Labour leader, suggested the Government was 'willing to explore' bringing in a new wealth tax. Sir Rocco, who runs his eponymous hotel chain, said any potential levy would only increase the number of entrepreneurs quitting the country after the Government's non-dom tax raid. He said: 'Labour has already seen a huge exodus of wealthy people which is ongoing, with many more due to leave before the Budget. A wealth tax will further exacerbate the problem.' Sir Martin, the chief executive of advertising firm S4 Capital, added: 'It would result in people leaving the country and not just wealthy people or people who've accumulated those assets but people who were looking to accumulate assets over time.' Sir Philip, the former Royal Bank of Scotland chairman, said it would be a 'very anti-growth policy' that would jeopardise tax-raising efforts. He said: 'What you lose most by having things like the wealth taxes is the people who can invest in the country. 'Those are exactly the sort of people you want, people who are going to work hard and contribute to society as well as becoming well off and making high tax payments. 'I can't think of a business sector that wouldn't be adversely affected by this.' 'Very strange idea' Their criticism represents a firm rejection of the plans put forward by Lord Kinnock, who said the Government could raise an extra £10bn a year by imposing a 2pc tax on assets worth more than £10m. His comments came after the ministers were warned that taxes would have to be raised following the Prime Minister's welfare about-turn last week. Sir Philip said: 'I think it's a very strange idea from a party that was elected to try to secure economic growth. 'It's in contradiction to the election manifesto that the Labour Party fought the last election on.' Sir Martin said that a wealth tax threatened to drive people abroad: 'Trying to distribute a smaller cake doesn't work. What you should be trying to do is trying to create a bigger cake.' In the UK today, the top 1pc of earners pay around 28.5pc of all income tax, according to analysis of HM Revenue & Customs figures. Sir Rocco said: 'The Government has already created a declining economy with large reductions in employment. A wealth tax will make things much worse and further discourage investment.'
Los Angeles Times
03-07-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
More Jedi, Less Terminator: will.i.am on Why Human Intuition and Empathy are the Keys to Winning the AI Revolution
'The Future of Creativity & AI' panel featured a compelling conversation between Sir Martin Sorrell, executive chairman of S4 Capital, and founder and CEO of Entrepreneur and innovator detailed his long-standing and deeply-rooted involvement in artificial intelligence, dating back to his first AI company in 2012. He revealed his strategy as a direct, early-stage investor in foundational AI companies like OpenAI, Runway, Anthropic, and Hugging Face, driven by a mission to find solutions and solve problems. A core focus of work is addressing the ethical challenges of AI, specifically combating data and algorithmic bias to ensure representation for urban communities and embedding empathy into models. He expressed concern that AI could reflect and amplify humanity's worst traits—such as greed and inhumanity—if not guided by a renewed focus on community and human well-being over profit-driven marketing. Despite the dominance of Big Tech, remains optimistic about the democratization of AI. He argued that the rise of open-source platforms and the shrinking size of powerful models will create a 'David and Goliath' scenario, empowering a new generation of entrepreneurs to compete with established giants. He dismissed fears of AI surpassing human ingenuity, comparing it to other powerful tools like calculators and cars, and urged for a focus on sharpening uniquely human skills like intuition. His final advice to the next generation was to actively engage with open-source AI tools immediately, build teams, and leverage passion and community to create new solutions before 2030.
