WPP pursues debt reduction plans as revenues fall

WPP, the UK marketing and advertising group, will pursue its share buyback programme and keep acquisition-related spending to a target of £100m a year to help reduce its borrowings, the group said in its first quarter trading update on Tuesday. The company, which tapped the loan market to back its purchase of market research group Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) in 2008, said its net debt stood at £3.752bn, after increasing by £1.159bn since last year as a result of the acquisition and share repurchases.