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WPP 1Q revenue jumps
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April 26, 2000: 4:04 a.m. ET
Advertising firm, on buyout prowl, cites strong PR unit behind 20% sales jump
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Britain's WPP Group, the owner of advertising agencies Ogilvy & Mather and J. Walter Thompson, announced Wednesday a 20 percent jump in revenue and £532 million ($840 million) in new business in its first quarter, sparking a rally in its share price.
In London trading early Wednesday, shares of WPP (WPP), a member of the benchmark FTSE-100 index, rose 5.6 percent to 999 pence.
London-based WPP has been suspected of recently reviving merger talks with U.S.-based Young & Rubicam after a weeks-long hiatus. Although WPP didn't comment about specific buyout prospects in its statement Wednesday, the company said it would continue to use free cash flow to fund purchases.
WPP, the world's third-largest advertising company, credited a strong performance for its public relations division, which includes the firm Hill & Knowlton. The company reiterated that it aims to raise its operating margin to 14 percent in 2000, a modest increase from last year. The operating margin, a measure of corporate profitability, expresses operating profit as a percentage of total revenue.
WPP increased the target for its share buyback program to £100 million per year -- or about 1 percent of the company's current market value. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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WPP Group
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