WPP PLC (WPP) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the WPP 2023 Preliminary Results. My name is Charlie, and I'll be coordinating the call today. (Operator Instructions) I will now hand over to our host, Mark Read, Chief Executive Officer, to begin. Mark, please go ahead.

早安，歡迎來到 WPP 2023 年初步結果。我叫查理，今天我將協調通話。 （操作員指示）我現在請我們的東道主、執行長馬克·里德開始發言。馬克，請繼續。

Thank you very much, and welcome, everybody, to WPP's preliminary results for 2023. I'm Mark Read, and I'm joined here by Joanne Wilson, our CFO; and Tom Waldron, our Head of Investor Relations. So turning to the presentation. Please take notice of our cautionary statements on Page 2. And for the meeting on Page 3, I'm going to cover the highlights of our financial performance before Joanne takes you through that in more detail. I'll then reiterate the strategy we laid out at the Capital Markets Day just over 3 weeks ago before taking questions.

非常感謝並歡迎大家了解 WPP 2023 年的初步結果。以及我們的投資者關係主管 Tom Waldron。所以轉向演示。請注意我們在第 2 頁的警告聲明。然後，我將重申三週前在資本市場日制定的策略，然後再回答問題。

So turning to Page 5, the highlights. We had a resilient performance in 2023 with like-for-like growth of 0.9% and a headline operating margin of 14.8%, up 0.2% on a constant currency basis. Showed excellent cost control, and we're pleased to have continued margin progression this year. We had strong growth outside the United States with our non-U.S. business growing 3.3%, with the U.K. and India doing particularly well and despite some challenges in China. However, the U.S. market declined 2.8% as strong growth in the CPG sector was outweighed by lower revenues from our technology clients and in the retail sector.

那麼請翻到第 5 頁，重點內容。 2023 年，我們的業績表現強勁，年增 0.9%，整體營業利益率為 14.8%，以固定匯率計算成長 0.2%。顯示出出色的成本控制，我們很高興今年的利潤率持續成長。我們在美國以外的地區實現了強勁成長，美國以外的業務成長了 3.3%，其中英國和印度的表現尤其出色，儘管在中國面臨一些挑戰。然而，美國市場下降了 2.8%，因為我們的技術客戶和零售業的收入下降抵消了 CPG 行業的強勁成長。

In terms of agency performance, GroupM grew 4.9% with a strong performance in Q4, up 5.7%. Our public relations businesses grew 1.4% against a strong comparison last year, but this was offset by a tougher year in our specialist and integrated creative agencies with the exception of Ogilvy that grew very well and should remind us of the growth potential in our creative agencies.

代理業績方面，群邑成長 4.9%，第四季表現強勁，成長 5.7%。與去年相比，我們的公關業務成長了1.4%，但這被我們的專業和綜合創意機構的艱難一年所抵消，但奧美除外，它增長得非常好，應該提醒我們創意機構的成長潛力。

At our Capital Markets Day, we set out our strategy to drive accelerated our more profitable growth with a focus on AI and a commitment to invest GBP 250 million a year in AI and proprietary technology. And at the Capital Markets Day, we also set new financial targets with a medium-term growth target of 3% plus, a 16% to 17% headline operating profit margins and 85% plus operating cash flow conversion.

在資本市場日，我們制定了策略，以人工智慧為重點，並承諾每年在人工智慧和專有技術上投資 2.5 億英鎊，以推動利潤率更高的成長。在資本市場日，我們也制定了新的財務目標，其中中期成長目標為 3% 以上，整體營業利潤率為 16% 至 17%，營業現金流轉換為 85% 以上。

And lastly, we also shared our guidance for 2024 with like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs up 0% to 1%, continued progression in our headline operating profit margin up 20 to 40 basis points.

最後，我們也分享了 2024 年的指導，即同類收入減去轉嫁成本後成長 0% 至 1%，我們的整體營業利潤率持續成長 20 至 40 個基點。

So with that highlights, I'll turn it to Joanne to take you through the financial performance in more detail.

因此，對於這些重點內容，我將請喬安妮帶您更詳細地了解財務表現。

Thank you, Mark, and good morning, everyone. And so let me take you through the 2023 financial results, just starting on Slide 7. Revenue less pass-through costs was up 0.5% on a reported basis and 0.9% on a like-for-like basis. Reported growth includes a 1.3 percentage point headwind from FX and a 0.9 percentage point contribution from M&A.

謝謝你，馬克，大家早安。因此，讓我從投影片 7 開始向您介紹 2023 年的財務表現。 收入減去轉嫁成本在報告基礎上成長了 0.5%，在同類基礎上成長了 0.9%。報告的成長包括來自外匯的 1.3 個百分點的阻力和來自併購的 0.9 個百分點的貢獻。

Like-for-like performance was towards the upper end of the guidance we shared at Q3. However, our full year performance reflects softer growth than we had anticipated at the beginning of 2023. This is impacted primarily by a slowdown in spending by our technology clients in the U.S. and delays in technology-related projects as a result of more cautious client spending patterns.

同比表現接近我們在第三季分享的指導的上限。然而，我們的全年業績反映出成長低於我們在 2023 年初的預期。

Turning to the headline income statement on Slide 8. Overall, revenue less pass-through costs was GBP 11.9 billion, an increase of 0.5% year-on-year with headline operating profit of GBP 1.75 billion, also up 0.5% year-on-year. This resulted in an operating margin that was in line with our original target of 15% at constant currency, reflecting the disciplined cost control measures that we took throughout the year. The reported headline operating profit margin of 14.8% you see here is flat from 2022, reflecting a headwind of 25 basis points from FX.

轉向投影片 8 的整體損益表。這使得營業利潤率符合我們以固定匯率計算 15% 的最初目標，反映了我們全年採取的嚴格的成本控制措施。您在此處看到的報告總體營業利潤率為 14.8%，與 2022 年持平，反映出外匯帶來的 25 個基點的阻力。

Moving down to P&L. Income from associates excludes any contribution from Kantar in 2023 in accordance with IAS 28 due to nil carrying value on our balance sheet. This compares to GBP 38.1 million contribution in 2022. Net finance costs increased during the year due to higher levels of debt and interest rates and lower investment income compared to 2022, which benefited from disposal. These items were partially offset by higher interest income, reflecting an increased tax rate of 27% in the year and noncontrolling interest of GBP 87 million. The profit attributable to shareholders was GBP 1.03 billion, resulting in a headline diluted EPS of 93.8p.

向下移動到損益表。根據 IAS 28，來自聯營公司的收入不包括 Kantar 在 2023 年的任何貢獻，因為我們的資產負債表上的帳面價值為零。相較之下，2022 年的捐款額為 3,810 萬英鎊。這些項目被較高的利息收入部分抵消，反映了當年稅率提高了 27%，非控制利息為 8,700 萬英鎊。股東應占利潤為 10.3 億英鎊，稀釋後每股收益為 93.8 便士。

Based on that performance, our cash generation and progressive dividend policy, the Board has recommended a flat final dividend of 24.4p, giving a total dividend of 39.4p for 2023, representing a cash return to shareholders of over GBP 420 million.

根據這項業績、我們的現金產生和累進股息政策，董事會建議將最終股息固定為 24.4 便士，2023 年的總股息為 39.4 便士，相當於為股東帶來超過 4.2 億英鎊的現金回報。

Moving now to Slide 9 and the reconciliation between our headline and reported profit. Our headline operating profit of GBP 1.75 billion is adjusted for a number of items, the majority of which are noncash. We have taken a goodwill impairment totaling GBP 63 million, which relates to 2 of our smaller businesses within specialist agencies. The creation of VML has triggered the impairment of the balance sheet's current values of intangibles related to legacy brands, including Young & Rubicam and Wunderman, which is the majority of the GBP 728 million of impairments excluded from headline operating profit.

現在轉到投影片 9 以及我們的標題和報告利潤之間的調整。我們 17.5 億英鎊的整體營業利潤針對多項項目進行了調整，其中大部分為非現金。我們已提列了總計 6300 萬英鎊的商譽減值，涉及我們專業機構內的 2 家小型企業。 VML 的創建引發了資產負債表中與傳統品牌（包括 Young & Rubicam 和 Wunderman）相關的無形資產當前價值的減值，這是從總體營業利潤中排除的 7.28 億英鎊減值中的大部分。

During 2023, we incurred restructuring and IT-related transformation costs of GBP 196 million, including some initial costs of GBP 16 million associated with the creation of VML and simplification of GroupM. In addition, the review of our property portfolio [has shared at] interim resulted in a largely noncash charge of GBP 232 million. This is slightly higher than the around GBP 220 million we guided to in July, as a result of an additional noncash charge reflecting the application of a recent IFRIC agenda decision on IFRS accounting for sale and leasebacks. The above, together with some smaller items, results in an overall adjustment of GBP 1.2 billion and a reported operating profit of GBP 531 million.

2023 年，我們發生了 1.96 億英鎊的重組和 IT 相關轉型成本，其中包括與創建 VML 和簡化群邑相關的 1,600 萬英鎊初始成本。此外，我們對房地產投資組合的中期審查導致了 2.32 億英鎊的非現金費用。這略高於我們 7 月指引的約 2.2 億英鎊，這是由於額外的非現金費用反映了最近關於 IFRS 售後回租會計的 IFRIC 議程決定的應用。上述內容加上一些較小的項目，導致整體調整為 12 億英鎊，報告營業利潤為 5.31 億英鎊。

Moving on to Slide 10. Our global integrated agencies grew 1.3% on a like-for-like basis. GroupM, our media planning and buying business, grew 4.9% in the year with an improved quarter-on-quarter performance in Q4. This is offset by a weaker performance from our integrated creative agencies, which saw an overall decline of 1.6% in 2023.

轉向投影片 10。我們的媒體策劃和購買業務群邑今年成長了 4.9%，第四季的業績環比有所改善。這被我們的綜合創意機構的疲軟業績所抵消，該機構 2023 年整體下降了 1.6%。

Ogilvy grew well, supported by recent new business wins, including SC Johnson and Verizon. Our other global integrated agencies, Wunderman Thompson, VMLY&R and AKQA, were adversely impacted by reduced spend across tech sector clients, predominantly in the U.S., client-led delays in technology-related projects and the impact of expected client losses in the U.S. retail sector. In Q4, this included the early impact of the loss of Pfizer, which will continue to weigh on this segment in 2024.

奧美在最近贏得的新業務（包括莊臣和威瑞森）的支持下發展良好。我們的其他全球綜合代理商 Wunderman Thompson、VMLY&R 和 AKQA 受到科技業客戶（主要是美國客戶）支出減少、客戶導致的技術相關專案延遲以及美國零售業客戶預期損失的影響的不利影響。第四季度，這包括輝瑞虧損的早期影響，這將在 2024 年繼續對該細分市場造成壓力。

Hogarth grew well, benefiting from increased spending by CPG clients and growing demand for its technology and the AI capabilities as clients produce more personalized and addressable content. The Global Integrated Agencies as a whole. Headline operating profit was GBP 1.5 billion, up 2.9%, delivering a margin of 15%, up 30 basis points.

Hogarth 發展良好，受益於 CPG 客戶支出的增加以及隨著客戶製作更個人化和可尋址的內容而對其技術和人工智慧功能的需求不斷增長。全球綜合機構作為一個整體。整體營業利潤為 15 億英鎊，成長 2.9%，利潤率為 15%，成長 30 個基點。

And moving now on to public relations on Slide 11, where we saw continued demand for strategic communications with like-for-like sales up 1.4% overall. FGS Global, our leading strategic advisory and communications consultancy, grew high single digits. Hill+Knowlton delivered modest growth, lapping a strong 2022, partially offset by a weaker year for BCW. Headline operating profit of GBP 191 million was down 0.5% year-on-year with margin of 16.2%, down 30 basis points year-on-year.

現在轉向投影片 11 上的公共關係，我們看到對策略傳播的持續需求，年比銷售額整體成長了 1.4%。我們領先的策略諮詢和傳播諮詢公司 FGS Global 實現了高個位數成長。偉達在 2022 年實現了溫和增長，表現強勁，但部分被 BCW 疲軟的一年所抵消。整體營業利潤為1.91億英鎊，年減0.5%，利潤率為16.2%，較去年同期下降30個基點。

And now turning to Specialist Agencies on Page 12. Revenue less pass-through costs was down 3.4% on a like-for-like basis. While CMI, our U.S. specialist health care media agency, delivered strong double-digit growth. Landor, Design Bridge and Partners and the longer tail of smaller agencies in this segment were impacted by tougher comps and more cautious client spending patterns, which resulted in longer lead times and project delays. Operating margin of 9.7% was 3.3 percentage points lower year-on-year, reflecting the weaker top line and the runoff of a COVID-19-related contract in Germany.

現在轉向第 12 頁的專業機構。而我們的美國專業醫療保健媒體機構 CMI 則實現了兩位數的強勁成長。 Landor、Design Bridge and Partners 以及該細分市場中較小機構的長尾受到更嚴格的競爭和更謹慎的客戶支出模式的影響，從而導致交付時間更長和專案延遲。營業利潤率為 9.7%，年減 3.3 個百分點，反映了德國的營收疲軟以及與 COVID-19 相關的合約的流失。

Slide 13 highlights performance across our geographic segments. North America declined 2.7% in 2023 with quarter 4 seeing similar client spending trends to those in the second and third quarters, most notably reduced spend from technology clients and client losses in the retail sector.

投影片 13 重點介紹了我們各個地理區域的表現。北美地區 2023 年下降 2.7%，第 4 季的客戶支出趨勢與第二季和第三季類似，最顯著的是技術客戶支出的減少和零售領域客戶的流失。

Q4 also saw the beginning of the roll-off of the Pfizer created business and partially offsetting this was good growth across our CPG and telecom clients. The U.K. grew 5.6% in the year, lapping 7.6% growth in 2022 with both GroupM and Ogilvy performing well. CPG and health care were the strongest client sectors.

在第四季輝瑞創立的業務也開始下滑，我們的消費品和電信客戶的良好成長部分抵銷了這一影響。英國全年成長 5.6%，2022 年成長 7.6%，群邑和奧美均表現優異。 CPG 和醫療保健是最強勁的客戶領域。

In Western Continental Europe, Germany, our largest market, had a challenging end of the year, with a more uncertain macro environment weighing on client spend in the second half. France returned to growth in Q4 after several quarters of decline as new clients were onboarded. The Rest of World saw good growth in 2023 driven by India, which was up 7.7%, reflecting strong double-digit growth in the second half. This was partially offset by China, which declined 3.3% with a consistent level of decline across the first and second half and a weak macro economy weighing on our creative agencies.

在西歐大陸，我們最大的市場德國在年底遇到了挑戰，宏觀環境更加不確定，下半年客戶支出受到影響。隨著新客戶的加入，法國在經歷了幾個季度的下滑後，在第四季度恢復了成長。在印度的推動下，世界其他地區在 2023 年實現了良好成長，印度成長了 7.7%，反映出下半年強勁的兩位數成長。這被中國下降了 3.3%，上半年和下半年持續下降，疲軟的宏觀經濟給我們的創意機構帶來了壓力，部分抵消了這一影響。

Turning to Slide 14. You can see the 2023 client sector split and net sales dynamics. WPP has a diverse client base. But in 2023, 3 sectors have really dominated the outcome with very strong growth in CPG clients, offset by declines in technology and the retail sector. In Q4, those trends continued across our 5 largest sectors with CPG strong and technology and retail sectors weaker. In addition, automotive accelerated a little in Q4. And in health care, growth turned negative, which has begun to be impacted by client loss.

轉向投影片 14。 WPP 擁有多元化的客戶群。但到 2023 年，有 3 個行業真正主導了結果，其中 CPG 客戶成長非常強勁，但被科技和零售業的下滑所抵消。第四季度，這些趨勢在我們的 5 個最大產業中得以延續，其中消費品產業表現強勁，而科技和零售業則表現疲軟。此外，汽車產業在第四季略有加速。在醫療保健領域，成長出現負成長，這已開始受到客戶流失的影響。

Going forward, we believe our exposure to the technology sector and within that, our strong relationship with some of the world's most valuable companies will be a source of growth and competitive advantage over the medium term.

展望未來，我們相信，我們在技術領域的投資以及我們與世界上一些最有價值的公司的牢固關係將成為中期內成長和競爭優勢的來源。

And now moving to Slide 15 and changes in operating margin year-on-year. We held a reported headline operating margin plus in 2023 despite a weaker top line performance and a 25 basis point FX headwind. Staff costs, excluding incentives, were up 0.2% year-on-year of GBP 7.8 billion, reflecting wage inflation. This was offset by a small reduction in permanent headcount as we exit 2023 and a 19% reduction in average freelances through the year, improving our overall mix. Together, these resulted in staff costs reducing as a percentage of net sales by around 30 basis points.

現在轉到投影片 15 以及營業利潤率同比變動。儘管營收表現較弱且外匯逆風達 25 個基點，但我們報告的 2023 年整體營業利潤率仍維持在+水準。不包括激勵措施的員工成本年增 0.2%，達 78 億英鎊，反映了薪資上漲。 2023 年結束時，固定員工人數小幅減少，全年自由工作者平均人數減少 19%，從而改善了我們的整體結構，抵消了這一影響。總之，員工成本佔淨銷售額的百分比降低了約 30 個基點。

Incentive costs were lower year-on-year, contributing to a further 30 basis points improvement in margin. These movements were offset by higher personnel costs driven by more in-person client meetings and some inflationary pressure on travel costs. Establishment costs fell as more of our people move into campuses, contributing to 20 basis points of margin improvement.

激勵成本較去年同期下降，導致利潤率進一步提高 30 個基點。這些變動被更多的面對面客戶會議導致的人員成本上升以及差旅成本的一些通膨壓力所抵消。隨著越來越多的員工搬入校園，設立成本下降，利潤率提高了 20 個基點。

And finally, our investment in IT, both enterprise and client facing, was a headwind in margin of 70 basis points. This investment included our IT and cloud infrastructure and cyber capability as well as our global capabilities, including WPP Open and AI, and was partly offset by offshoring savings.

最後，我們對企業和客戶的 IT 投資的利潤率逆風上升了 70 個基點。這項投資包括我們的 IT 和雲端基礎設施以及網路能力以及我們的全球能力，包括 WPP Open 和 AI，但部分被離岸外包節省所抵消。

As we look to 2024 and beyond, I thought it would be helpful to recap on this slide from our Capital Markets Day. So turning now to Slide 16. In 2024, despite top line pressures, we expect to deliver 20 to 40 basis points of margin accretion, benefiting from part realization of the cost savings from the creation of VML and Burson and the simplification of GroupM. We expect 40% to 50% of the GBP 125 million cost savings to be realized in 2024, partially offset by an expected increase in incentives as a percentage of net sales.

當我們展望 2024 年及以後時，我認為回顧一下資本市場日的這張投影片會有所幫助。現在轉向幻燈片16。 。我們預計 1.25 億英鎊成本節約中的 40% 至 50% 將在 2024 年實現，部分被激勵措施佔淨銷售額百分比的預期成長所抵銷。

Beyond 2024, we expect to realize further structural and efficiency savings and greater operating leverage as our top line growth towards our medium-term target. Some of these savings will support continued investment in our business, prioritizing our industry-leading capabilities, including AI, Choreograph and WPP Open. Our plans include annual cash investment of around GBP 250 million in 2024 in proprietary technology to support our AI and data strategy. Taking all of this together, we are confident we can deliver our medium-term margin target of 16% to 17% and invest in our business to accelerate growth.

2024 年之後，我們預計將實現進一步的結構和效率節約以及更大的營運槓桿，作為我們實現中期目標的收入成長。其中部分節省將支持對我們業務的持續投資，優先考慮我們領先業界的能力，包括 AI、Choreograph 和 WPP Open。我們的計劃包括到 2024 年每年對專有技術進行約 2.5 億英鎊的現金投資，以支援我們的人工智慧和數據策略。綜上所述，我們有信心能夠實現 16% 至 17% 的中期利潤率目標，並投資於我們的業務以加速成長。

And moving now to Slide 17, which provides an overview of our net debt and cash generation and uses over the last 12 months. Our net debt at year-end of GBP 2.5 billion is broadly flat year-on-year. Looking at the bridge and starting from 2023, EBITDA less income from associates of GBP 2.2 billion, you can see the uses of cash. Rent of GBP 362 million; non-headline cash costs, including cash restructuring of GBP 218 million, which I will come back to; CapEx of GBP 217 million, with investment primarily in our tech capability and campuses; and a working capital outflow of GBP 260 million, which includes an adverse impact from year-end FX of GBP 89 million.

現在轉到投影片 17，該投影片概述了過去 12 個月我們的淨債務和現金產生及使用情況。我們年底的淨債務為 25 億英鎊，與去年同期基本持平。看看這座橋，從 2023 年開始，EBITDA 減去來自聯營公司的收入 22 億英鎊，你可以看到現金的用途。租金3.62億英鎊；非主要現金成本，包括 2.18 億英鎊的現金重組，我稍後會談到；資本支出為 2.17 億英鎊，主要投資於我們的技術能力和園區；營運資金流出 2.6 億英鎊，其中包括年末外匯帶來的 8,900 萬英鎊的不利影響。

Excluding FX, the working capital outflow was GBP 171 million. This included a better-than-expected performance from trade and working capital, excluding FX, representing an inflow of GBP 157 million. This is offset by a larger-than-expected outflow of nontrade working capital of GBP 328 million, excluding FX, impacted by the year-on-year movement in bonus, a shift to prepayment terms for a large IT contract and other smaller items. Combined, those moving parts translate to adjusted operating cash flow of GBP 1.3 billion, which translates to a 73% conversion of headline profit before interest and tax.

不計外匯，營運資金流出為 1.71 億英鎊。其中包括貿易和營運資本（不含外匯）的表現優於預期，流入1.57億英鎊。但由於獎金同比變動、大型 IT 合約和其他較小項目轉向預付款項的影響，非貿易營運資本流出 3.28 億英鎊（不包括外匯）超出預期，抵消了這一影響。這些變動部分加在一起，調整後的營運現金流為 13 億英鎊，相當於息稅前整體利潤的 73%。

Free cash flow after dividends to minorities, M&A earnouts, interest and tax was around GBP 637 million, nearly GBP 600 million higher than last year. Total cash returned to shareholders via the dividend was GBP 423 million, and acquisitions and disposals resulted in a net cash outlay of GBP 158 million.

扣除少數股股息、併購收益、利息和稅金後的自由現金流約為 6.37 億英鎊，比去年增加近 6 億英鎊。透過股息返還給股東的現金總額為 4.23 億英鎊，收購和處置導致淨現金支出為 1.58 億英鎊。

As I indicated at our recent Capital Markets Day, the fundamentals of our business mean we are confident that we can deliver consistent and stronger cash generation that exceeds 85% conversion of headline operating profit into operating cash flow over the medium term.

正如我在最近的資本市場日上指出的那樣，我們業務的基本面意味著我們有信心能夠提供持續且更強勁的現金生成，在中期內將超過 85% 的整體營業利潤轉化為營業現金流。

The levers to drive that improvement in cash generation include more profitable growth, a focus on working capital management, lower CapEx and lower cash restructuring costs as we complete our transformation initiatives. As we flagged, our average adjusted net debt to headline EBITDA was slightly above our target range of 1.5 to 1.75x at 1.83x at year-end. We are focused on bringing that metric back within our target range.

隨著我們完成轉型計劃，推動現金產生改善的槓桿包括更高的利潤成長、對營運資本管理的關注、更低的資本支出和更低的現金重組成本。正如我們所指出的，我們的平均調整後淨債務與整體 EBITDA 比率略高於我們 1.5 至 1.75 倍的目標範圍，年底為 1.83 倍。我們致力於使該指標回到我們的目標範圍內。

I'm moving on to more detail on our restructuring costs and other adjusting items on Slide 18. 2023 reported operating income includes noncash charges for impairments to our property portfolio as a result of our 2023 property review and the impairment and accelerated amortization of goodwill associated with the legacy brands, which have been impaired following the creation of VML. The bulk of our restructuring and transformation costs in 2023 consists of the costs associated with the transformation program and the initial cost of the strategic actions taken in the creation of VML and simplification of GroupM. These totaled GBP 196 million.

我將在投影片18 上詳細介紹我們的重組成本和其他調整項目。非現金費用。 2023 年，我們大部分的重組和轉型成本包括與轉型計畫相關的成本以及創建 VML 和簡化群邑所採取的策略行動的初始成本。總計 1.96 億英鎊。

Within that, restructuring costs for our ERP program have declined to GBP 52 million in 2023, as we evolve our ERP road map to reflect some of the learnings from the past few years. As I shared at our CMD, we now expect the bulk of our ERP consolidation to be completed by 2026 with restructuring costs reducing accordingly. The restructuring and transformation costs associated with enterprise IT and our campus program will also decline as initiatives begun in 2020 are completed.

其中，隨著我們不斷完善 ERP 路線圖以反映過去幾年的一些經驗教訓，我們 ERP 計劃的重組成本已降至 2023 年的 5,200 萬英鎊。正如我在 CMD 上分享的那樣，我們現在預計 ERP 整合的大部分工作將在 2026 年完成，重組成本也會相應降低。隨著 2020 年開始的計畫的完成，與企業 IT 和我們的園區計畫相關的重組和轉型成本也將下降。

The total cash attributable to restructuring costs in 2023 of GBP 200 million consisted of that GBP 196 million, plus an additional GBP 11 million of cash costs from our property review. In 2024, we expect cash restructuring costs to be around GBP 285 million. That reflects GBP 125 million of costs associated with the VML and Burson mergers and the GroupM simplification. Other cash restructuring costs relating to our ERP and IT programs as well as property-related costs are expected to reduce from the GBP 196 million you see here to around GBP 160 million in 2024.

2023 年重組成本的現金總額為 2 億英鎊，其中 1.96 億英鎊加上我們財產審查產生的額外 1,100 萬英鎊現金成本。 2024 年，我們預期現金重組成本約為 2.85 億英鎊。這反映了與 VML 和 Burson 合併以及 GroupM 簡化相關的 1.25 億英鎊成本。與我們的 ERP 和 IT 項目相關的其他現金重組成本以及與財產相關的成本預計將從您在這裡看到的 1.96 億英鎊減少到 2024 年的 1.6 億英鎊左右。

And finally, let me take you through the guidance for 2024 on Slide 19. Our headline guidance for like-for-like growth of 0% to 1% and margin improvement of 20 to 40 basis points at constant currency are consistent with the guidance shared at our Capital Markets Day on January 30.

最後，讓我在投影片 19 上向您介紹 2024 年的指引。 30 日資本市場日。

At current FX rates, we would expect around a 2% drag on 2024 reported revenue less pass-through cost with a net neutral impact on margin. We expect M&A to contribute between 0.5% to 1% to our growth. Our net finance costs will rise to around GBP 295 million as a result of increasing rates, including the full year impact of last year's bond refinancing and the partial year impact of refinancing the $750 million bond that matures in 2024. We expect a tax rate of around 28% in 2024, up from 27% in 2023, as we see upward pressure on our effective tax rates from increased rates in some countries, together with minimum tax regimes, caps on interest deductibility and withholding taxes. CapEx will be around GBP 260 million in 2024 and will reduce from 2025 onwards with lower spend on our campus program. We will continue to focus on our working capital management and are targeting overall net total working capital to be flat in 2024.

依照目前的匯率，我們預期 2024 年報告的收入減去轉嫁成本將受到約 2% 的拖累，對利潤率的淨影響為中性。我們預計併購將為我們的成長貢獻 0.5% 至 1%。由於利率上升，我們的淨財務成本將上升至 2.95 億英鎊左右，包括去年債券再融資的全年影響以及 2024 年到期的 7.5 億美元債券再融資的部分年度影響。為28%，高於2023 年的27%，因為我們看到一些國家提高稅率、最低稅收制度、利息扣除上限和預扣稅對我們的有效稅率造成上行壓力。 2024 年，資本支出將約為 2.6 億英鎊，從 2025 年起，我們的校園計畫支出將減少，資本支出將減少。我們將繼續專注於營運資本管理，並目標是到 2024 年整體營運資本淨額持平。

So thank you, and I will now hand you back to Mark to talk about our strategic progress.

謝謝你，我現在將把你交還給馬克，讓你談談我們的策略進展。

Thank you, Joanne. So turning to our strategic progress on Page 21. We outlined the key elements of our strategy, Innovating to Lead, that we set out at the Capital Markets Day. There's really 4 key elements to our strategy: The first, leading through our investments in AI, data and technology; the second, accelerating our growth through the power of creative transformation; thirdly, building world-class market-leading brands; and finally, executing efficiently to drive financial through margin and cash. And we went through those in some detail at the Capital Markets Day, but I would like to emphasize some of the key points that we made there on this call.

謝謝你，喬安妮。因此，轉向第 21 頁的策略進展。我們的策略有四個關鍵要素：第一，透過對人工智慧、數據和技術的投資來引領；第二，透過創造性改變的力量加速我們的成長；第三是打造世界級市場領導品牌。最後，高效執行，透過保證金和現金推動財務。我們在資本市場日上詳細討論了這些內容，但我想強調我們在這次電話會議上提出的一些關鍵點。

Turning to Page 22 and our ambition to lead through AI, data and technology. I had a lot of questions at the meeting and the subsequent discussions with shareholders about the impact of AI on our business model. And that's early days. But we do see opportunities for our investment in AI to lead to improved growth and better financial performance. And these are the 5 areas we highlighted at the meeting, and they show some of the opportunities that we see and how they can translate into revenue and margin.

翻到第 22 頁，我們的雄心壯志是透過人工智慧、數據和技術來引領潮流。我在會議上以及隨後與股東討論人工智慧對我們商業模式的影響時提出了很多問題。那是早期的事。但我們確實看到了人工智慧投資的機會，可以帶來更好的成長和更好的財務表現。這些是我們在會議上強調的 5 個領域，它們展示了我們看到的一些機會以及它們如何轉化為收入和利潤。

Starting at the top, we see the ability to earn technology license fees in areas such as commerce, production and media from WPP Open. Secondly, we have the ability to help our clients embrace AI, offering them consulting projects to use AI as well as technology projects with AI embedded within it. And there's many examples of those over the past few years with an acceleration into 2023.

從頂部開始，我們看到了透過 WPP Open 在商業、製作和媒體等領域賺取技術授權費的能力。其次，我們有能力幫助客戶擁抱人工智慧，為他們提供使用人工智慧的諮詢專案以及嵌入人工智慧的技術專案。過去幾年有很多這樣的例子，並且到 2023 年會加速。

We also see how AI can help to drive improvements in the effectiveness of our work. It can augment, not replace roles to make it more productive. And we already see that AI augmented work is driving better ROI for our clients. You saw that in the Amazon PDP Generator we shared at the Capital Markets Day. And this leads us to believe that we can improve our pricing to clients on the back of improved financial returns on their marketing investment.

我們也看到人工智慧如何幫助提高我們的工作效率。它可以增強而不是取代角色以提高工作效率。我們已經看到人工智慧增強工作正在為我們的客戶帶來更好的投資報酬率。您在我們在資本市場日分享的 Amazon PDP 產生器中看到了這一點。這使我們相信，在提高行銷投資的財務回報的情況下，我們可以提高對客戶的定價。

AI will also offer us the ability to develop new business and financial models and to accelerate the shift away from hours-based compensation to remuneration more linked results, particularly again in areas such as commerce and medium production, where a meaningful percentage of our remuneration today is already non-hours-based.

人工智慧也將為我們提供開發新業務和財務模式的能力，並加速從基於時間的薪酬向與結果掛鉤的薪酬的轉變，特別是在商業和中等生產等領域，這些領域占我們今天薪酬的很大一部分已經是非小時制的了。

And lastly, we see the ability of AI to make us more efficient to reduce our back-office costs and to improve profitability. And I'm sure we'll get into it in the Q&A, but these are all the reasons why we see AI as an opportunity for us in the future.

最後，我們看到人工智慧能夠使我們更有效地降低後台成本並提高獲利能力。我相信我們會在問答中討論這個問題，但這些都是我們將人工智慧視為未來機會的原因。

Now on Page 23, turning to the second element of our strategy, creative transformation. And at the Capital Markets Day, we just spent some time demonstrating to you the link between creative production and media and how these disciplines increasingly integrate to drive success for clients. But at the heart of our work is creativity and there's no bigger platform in the world stage for creative excellence than the Super Bowl.

現在在第 23 頁，我們轉向我們策略的第二個要素：創意轉型。在資本市場日，我們剛剛花了一些時間向您展示創意製作和媒體之間的聯繫，以及這些學科如何日益整合以推動客戶成功。但我們工作的核心是創造力，在世界舞台上沒有比超級盃更大的平台來展現卓越的創造力。

While for some, it's a game. For us, it's the Olympics of advertising and the time actually when viewers look forward to the ads, maybe one of a few times in the year. If you look at the viewing, you can see why this year's Super Bowl was the most watched event on U.S. TV since the moon landing had an average viewing of 123 million people across all platforms, not just on linear TV, but on many of the streaming platforms. And WPP agencies were this year responsible for the creative on 12 TV spots and bought media for 19 spots, really significant involvement given there are only 57 spots in the Super Bowl.

而對某些人來說，這是一場遊戲。對我們來說，這是廣告界的奧運會，也是觀眾真正期待廣告的時刻，也許是一年中為數不多的幾次。如果你看看收視率，你就會明白為什麼今年的超級盃是自登月以來美國電視上收視率最高的賽事，所有平台上的平均收視人數為1.23 億人，不僅在線性電視上，而且在許多電視節目上。今年，WPP 代理商負責了 12 個電視節目的創意，並購買了 19 個電視節目的媒體，考慮到超級盃只有 57 個節目，這確實是一次重大的參與。

Forbes Magazine, in an assessment of a number of indicators, called out what they evaluated to be the top 5 ads at the Super Bowl. I'm pleased to say that 4 came from WPP agencies. So the work we did for Verizon, from Ogilvy, the Hellman's work, their third Super Bowl ad from VML of Mindshare, work for Progressive Insurance with VML and the survey work from WPP One from his team made up of WPP agencies. These are some of the examples of the work that we're doing.

《富比士》雜誌在對多項指標進行評估後，選出了超級盃廣告中排名前 5 名的廣告。我很高興地說，其中 4 個來自 WPP 機構。因此，我們為Verizon 所做的工作，來自Ogilvy，Hellman 的工作，他們的第三個超級碗廣告來自Mindshare 的VML，為Progressive Insurance 與VML 所做的工作，以及來自他由WPP 機構組成的團隊的WPP One 的調查工作。這些是我們正在做的工作的一些例子。

Now we're really pleased by the impact, particularly the work we had for Verizon. If you remember, this was a client Ogilvy won during the course of 2024. And the work that they did with Beyoncé at Super Bowl was judged by many commentators to be the ad that won Super Bowl. So let's look at that. Peter, if you could run that film.

現在我們對這種影響感到非常高興，尤其是我們為 Verizon 所做的工作。如果你還記得的話，這是奧美在 2024 年贏得的一個客戶。 他們在超級盃上與碧昂絲合作的作品被許多評論員認為是贏得超級盃的廣告。那麼讓我們看看這個。彼得，如果你能拍那部電影就好了。

(presentation)

（推介會）

All right. So we indulged with the full 90-second version. Why is that important? Well, I start with you should remind us that in this digital age, there's still some events that bring people together, and the Super Bowl is one of them. And we also have the Olympics coming up this summer. These events aren't just linear TV events, although that's at the heart of them. They're multimedia digital events. There's many, many digital elements around their work, so Verizon amplified the idea.

好的。所以我們沉迷於完整的 90 秒版本。為什麼這很重要？好吧，首先你應該提醒我們，在這個數位時代，仍然有一些活動將人們聚集在一起，超級盃就是其中之一。今年夏天我們還將舉辦奧運。這些事件不僅僅是線性電視事件，儘管這是它們的核心。它們是多媒體數位活動。他們的工作中有很多很多數字元素，因此 Verizon 放大了這個想法。

That said, at the heart of it was a creative idea from a talented team, and the power of creativity is ability to amplify our client's investment. Super Bowl at $7 million for 30 seconds isn't cheap. But clients are really looking for a meaningful financial return. And while we can't yet share details of the business impact from that work, I can say that clients saw a meaningful increase in the business following Super Bowl.

也就是說，其核心是來自才華洋溢的團隊的創意，而創意的力量就是擴大客戶投資的能力。超級盃 30 秒 700 萬美元的價格並不便宜。但客戶確實在尋求有意義的財務回報。雖然我們還無法分享這項工作對業務影響的詳細信息，但我可以說，客戶在超級碗之後看到了業務的有意義的增長。

On Page 24, the third element of our -- Page 25, the third element of our strategy is building world-class brands. And 6 brands today account for approximately 19 of WPP's business. We thought we share here some of the business that those brands have won over the course of the past year.

第 24 頁，我們策略的第三個要素──第 25 頁，我們策略的第三個要素是打造世界級品牌。如今，6 個品牌約佔 WPP 業務的 19 %。我們想在這裡分享這些品牌在過去一年中贏得的一些業務。

Just to highlight some examples here. VML won the Kripsy Kreme business globally, the first new business win is VML, has been followed up by several wins since then. Ogilvy had a very strong business performance, let say growth, not least, Verizon, also wins globally and in Europe and the business has done well. Hogarth had an excellent year supported by many new business wins and expansion of key client relationships. And GroupM, while it may had a more challenging time in terms of new business in the United States, has been successful globally, where you make us top to global new business charts and they won a number of important global reviews, not least the Nestle business in Europe.

只是為了強調一些例子。 VML 在全球範圍內贏得了 Kripsy Kreme 業務，第一個新業務勝利是 VML，此後又取得了許多勝利。奧美的業務表現非常強勁，尤其是成長，Verizon 在全球和歐洲也取得了勝利，業務表現也很好。 Hogarth 在許多新業務的贏得和關鍵客戶關係的擴展的支持下度過了出色的一年。群邑雖然在美國的新業務方面可能遇到了更具挑戰性的時期，但它在全球範圍內取得了成功，使我們在全球新業務排行榜上名列前茅，並且他們贏得了許多重要的全球評論，尤其是雀巢在歐洲開展業務。

And lastly, on the next page, we lay out at our Capital Markets Day our medium-term financial framework of 3% plus organic growth, 16% to 17% headline operating margin, 85% adjusted operating cash flow conversion and 1.5 to 1.75x average net debt to headline EBITDA, all of that supported by a disciplined capital allocation.

最後，在下一頁，我們在資本市場日制定了 3% 以上的有機成長、16% 至 17% 的總體營運利潤率、85% 調整後的營運現金流轉換以及 1.5 至 1.75 倍的中期財務框架平均淨債務與總體EBITDA 之比，所有這些都得到嚴格的資本配置的支持。

So on the last page, 28, what we discussed at the Capital Markets Day. I just conclude by touching on the investment case of WPP. I think we've covered. Our unrivaled global reach and scale, our ability to help global and domestic champions reach their clients. We operate in attractive and growing addressable markets. We have deep client relationships with many of the world's leading businesses. We work with 3 of the world's 4 biggest companies by market capitalization. They rely on WPP for growth.

最後一頁，即第 28 頁，我們在資本市場日討論了這些內容。最後我簡單談談WPP的投資案例。我想我們已經涵蓋了。我們無與倫比的全球影響力和規模，以及幫助全球和國內冠軍企業接觸客戶的能力。我們在有吸引力且不斷成長的潛在市場中開展業務。我們與許多世界領先的企業擁有深厚的客戶關係。我們與全球市值最大的 4 家公司中的 3 家合作。他們依靠 WPP 實現成長。

We have a strategy to lead through AI, data and technology supported by an investment of GBP 250 million a year, a strong investment-grade balance sheet. And lastly and by no means least, world-leading talent, ambitious for the future. All of this is aimed to deliver accelerated growth, margin expansion and improved cash generation to drive returns for our shareholders.

我們制定了透過人工智慧、數據和技術來引領的策略，並以每年 2.5 億英鎊的投資和強大的投資級資產負債表為支持。最後也是最重要的一點是，世界領先的人才對未來充滿野心。所有這些都是為了實現加速成長、利潤擴張和改善現金生成，從而為我們的股東帶來回報。

So that's what we're absolutely focused on as a team. Thank you for listening. And now we'll take your questions.

所以這就是我們作為一個團隊絕對關注的事情。感謝您的聆聽。現在我們將回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Laura Metayer of Morgan Stanley.

（操作員指示）我們的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的勞拉·梅耶爾（Laura Metayer）。

Three questions, please. The first one is on the GroupM growth acceleration this quarter. Can you give us a little bit more details on what drove the growth acceleration? Second question is on the assumption for the low end and the high end of your growth guidance. Is it fair to assume that the biggest moving part is the return of tech clients outspend? And then the third question is regarding OpenAI that recently announced Sora, the AI model that can create realistic scenes from text instructions. Just curious how you think about the impact that it can have on your business and if you think it can be an opportunity for your business and your industry.

請教大家三個問題。第一個是群邑本季的成長加速。您能否為我們提供更多有關推動成長加速的因素的詳細資訊？第二個問題是關於成長指導的低端和高端的假設。假設最令人感動的部分是技術客戶的回報超出了支出，這是否公平？第三個問題是關於 OpenAI 最近發布的 Sora，這是一個可以根據文字指令創建真實場景的人工智慧模型。只是好奇您如何看待它對您的業務的影響，以及您是否認為這對您的業務和行業來說是一個機會。

Joanne, why don't you take the financial questions, and I'll finish up on the AI question at the end?

喬安妮，你為什麼不做財務問題，我最後再做人工智慧問題？

Okay. Well, just starting with your first question on GroupM. Yes, we were pleased with the performance in Q4. So it grew at 5.7%, and that was higher than the Q3 growth. I think we always see Q4 is a strong quarter for our media business. I think we had tougher comps in Q3 as well, which impacted that year-on-year growth. And as we look forward into 2024, we're expecting to see continued good growth in 2024. But obviously, that growth will be impacted by some of the client decisions in 2023, particularly in the U.S. business.

好的。好的，先回答您關於 GroupM 的第一個問題。是的，我們對第四季的表現感到滿意。所以它的成長率為5.7%，高於第三季的成長率。我認為我們總是看到第四季度是我們媒體業務的強勁季度。我認為我們在第三季的競爭也更加激烈，這影響了年成長。展望 2024 年，我們預計 2024 年將繼續實現良好成長。

In terms of the growth guidance, 0% to 1%. In terms of Q4 trends, as we said, we saw similar trends to Q3. We'd expect the H2 trends from 2023 to continue through H1, have been the macro, some uncertainty still. And in terms of client losses that we saw in 2023, we started to see some impact from that in Q4. And those will continue throughout 2024, particularly weighing on the first half.

成長指引方面，0%到1%。就第四季度的趨勢而言，正如我們所說，我們看到了與第三季類似的趨勢。我們預計 2023 年下半年的趨勢將持續到上半年，這是宏觀的，但仍存在一些不確定性。就我們在 2023 年看到的客戶流失而言，我們從第四季度開始看到了一些影響。這些情況將持續到 2024 年，尤其是上半年。

As we shared at the Capital Markets Day, if we look at our comps, Q1 is our toughest comp at 2.9% growth in 2023. Q3 is our easiest comp, which is negative 0.6%. And so I think that will also impact the year-on-year growth that we are seeing. And just finally, what I'd say is we've talked about our pipeline being higher than it was this time a year ago. It's more skewed to offensive pictures, which is good. And of course, we will start to lap the impact from the tech sector from Q2 onwards. So I think it's too early to call a recovery in the tech sector. But certainly, it feels like that's stabilizing and the comps will get easier from Q2.

正如我們在資本市場日分享的那樣，如果我們看看我們的比較，第一季是我們最艱難的比較，2023 年增長 2.9%。因此，我認為這也會影響我們所看到的同比增長。最後，我想說的是，我們已經討論過我們的管道比一年前的這個時候要高。它更傾向於令人反感的圖片，這很好。當然，我們將從第二季開始考慮科技業的影響。因此，我認為現在稱科技業復甦還為時過早。但可以肯定的是，感覺情況正在穩定下來，從第二季度開始比賽將會變得更容易。

So overall, Laura, I think the way you should think about it is growth skewed to H2. And just given all of the factors I talked about, I think we'll expect to see negative like-for-like growth in Q1.

總的來說，勞拉，我認為你應該考慮的是成長偏向 H2。考慮到我談到的所有因素，我認為我們預計第一季將出現年比負成長。

Thanks, Joanne. Now, on the AI video, Sora. Look, I think it's impressive. At one level, that shouldn't be a surprise, but it does remind us of the speed and pace at which innovation is taking place in AI. I don't think it changes our strategy. In fact, I think it reinforces what we're doing. What clients need is work that's copyright proof that they're able to accurately represent their brands in reality, and Sora is not yet at that stage. And I think as we showed at the Capital Markets Day, our strategy is very much to work with these models and work with the technologies out there but adapt them to use them for our clients and apply our understanding of brands and marketing and creative work to direct them in ways that they're most effective for clients. And I think that shows what we can do.

謝謝，喬安妮。現在，在人工智慧影片中，索拉。瞧，我覺得這很令人印象深刻。從某種程度上來說，這並不奇怪，但它確實提醒我們人工智慧創新的速度和節奏。我不認為這會改變我們的策略。事實上，我認為這加強了我們正在做的事情。客戶需要的是有版權證明的作品，證明他們能夠在現實中準確地代表自己的品牌，而 Sora 還沒有達到這個階段。我認為，正如我們在資本市場日所展示的那樣，我們的策略是與這些模型和現有技術合作，但要對其進行調整，以便為我們的客戶使用它們，並將我們對品牌、行銷和創意工作的理解應用於以對客戶最有效的方式指導他們。我認為這表明了我們可以做什麼。

We've shown examples with you the part of the work that we're doing with NVIDIA. We were again mentioned in NVIDIA's conference call -- earnings call yesterday as one of their partners, key strategic partners in this area to deliver video using AI. And I think that's sort of a direction in which clients will go that's copyright safe and protects and highlights their brands in ways that they would want.

我們向您展示了我們與 NVIDIA 合作的部分工作範例。昨天，在 NVIDIA 的財報電話會議上，我們再次被提及，作為他們的合作夥伴之一，我們是該領域使用 AI 提供視訊的關鍵策略合作夥伴。我認為這是客戶會選擇的一個方向，即版權安全，並以他們想要的方式保護和突出他們的品牌。

Our next question comes from Lisa Yang of Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 Lisa Yang。

I have 3 questions, please. Firstly, you mentioned in terms of new business environment, there are more offensive pictures. I was just wondering like if you can comment on how well you think WP is positioned, I think, in those pitches and what sort of gives you that confidence that you could potentially win many of those pitches? And what are the clients really looking for, I think, those pitches, I think that will be really, really helpful.

我有 3 個問題，請問。首先，你提到在新的商業環境方面，有更多令人反感的畫面。我只是想知道您是否可以評論一下您認為 WP 在這些球場上的定位如何，以及什麼樣的方式讓您有信心贏得其中的許多球場？我認為客戶真正想要的是什麼，這些推廣將非常非常有幫助。

The second question is on capital allocation. I don't think you gave an M&A envelope for this year. I think last year was GBP 300 million to GBP 400 million. And some of your peers, I mean, publicly stated they increased actually their M&A spend for this year to GBP 700 million to GBP 800 million. So I'm just wondering like how you think about the priorities for the company in terms of deleveraging versus M&A over the next few years? And is there a base that the gap could potentially widen versus some of your peers if you do less M&A?

第二個問題是關於資本配置。我認為您今年沒有提供併購信封。我想去年是3億英鎊到4億英鎊。我的意思是，你們的一些同行公開表示，他們今年的併購支出實際上增加到了 7 億英鎊至 8 億英鎊。所以我只是想知道您如何看待公司未來幾年在去槓桿化和併購方面的優先事項？如果您減少併購，與某些同行的差距是否可能會擴大？

And the third question. Thanks for giving the guidance on tax and interest for '24. At the CMD, you mentioned these items would be headwinds for the medium-term cash generation. Is there any sort of comment you can give on tax and interest beyond '24? Or is '24 the peak?

第三個問題。感謝您提供 '24 年稅收和利息方面的指導。在 CMD，您提到這些項目將成為中期現金產生的阻力。您對 24 年後的稅收和利息有何評論？或者說24年是巔峰？

Okay. Well, I'll tackle the new business question, and then Joanne can take the 2 follow-ups. But I think in terms of new business, we said our pipeline is very strong. It's probably a little bit more offensive for us than it is defensive, but we do have defensive reviews that you would know about. I think the reviews span creative, media and production, and we are going to highlight all of the capabilities that we highlighted at our Capital Markets Day that demonstrate to our clients why we would be the best partner for them. I think we absolutely have the capabilities that they need in terms of skills, investments in technology, geographic expertise. I expect AI to be a big focus of reviews for clients looking to see who's best positioned to partner with them on that in the future. I think in each of those cases, we have a strong case to make. Our industry, as you know, this is competitive. And we won't win them all, but we're actually focused on winning as many as we can.

好的。好吧，我將解決新的業務問題，然後喬安妮可以進行 2 個後續問題。但我認為就新業務而言，我們說我們的管道非常強大。對我們來說，這可能比防禦性更具攻擊性，但我們確實有您會知道的防禦性評論。我認為這些評論涵蓋創意、媒體和製作，我們將重點介紹我們在資本市場日強調的所有能力，向我們的客戶展示為什麼我們將成為他們的最佳合作夥伴。我認為我們絕對具備他們在技能、技術投資、地理專業知識所需的能力。我預計人工智慧將成為客戶審查的一大焦點，他們希望了解誰最有能力在未來與他們合作。我認為在每一個案例中，我們都有充分的理由來闡述。如您所知，我們的行業競爭激烈。我們不會贏得全部，但我們實際上專注於贏得盡可能多的勝利。

So just taking your other 2 questions, Lisa, on capital allocation and M&A specifically. You shouldn't read anything into the fact that we haven't given specific guidance over the last few years. We spent around GBP 200 million to GBP 300 million on M&A. As we set out at the Capital Markets Day, we think our M&A approach has worked well for us, buying businesses that accelerate our capability and tend to be high-growth businesses, and we'll continue to look for those opportunities.

麗莎，請回答你的另外兩個問題，具體是關於資本配置和併購的。您不應該對我們在過去幾年中沒有提供具體指導的事實進行任何解讀。我們在併購上花費了大約 2 億至 3 億英鎊。正如我們在資本市場日開始的那樣，我們認為我們的併購方法對我們來說效果很好，購買了能夠提高我們能力並且往往是高成長企業的企業，我們將繼續尋找這些機會。

At the CMD, we also talked about our priorities from a capital allocation perspective, starting with our organic investments. We shared some of -- what we've done with regards to organic investment over the last few years., We brought that to life for you, hopefully, at the CMD, and we'll continue to prioritize that in 2024.

在 CMD，我們也從資本配置的角度討論了我們的優先事項，從我們的有機投資開始。我們分享了過去幾年我們在有機投資方面所做的一些事情。

In terms of the risk of the gap widening, no, we don't think that's a risk that we're very confident in our capabilities, in particular, WPP Open and AI, and we'll continue to invest in those in 2024.

就差距擴大的風險而言，不，我們認為這不是一個風險，因為我們對自己的能力非常有信心，特別是 WPP Open 和 AI，我們將在 2024 年繼續投資於這些領域。

As regards to tax and interest, maybe start with interest. So the increase in 2024 is really a result of rising interest rates as we have refinanced our bonds, so we have a full year impact of the '23 refinancing and '24. I'd expect the GBP 295 million to really be the peak of our interest costs that will probably stabilize around that level and over the medium term come down.

至於稅收和利息，也許要從利息開始。因此，2024 年的成長實際上是利率上升的結果，因為我們對債券進行了再融資，因此我們受到「23 年再融資」和「24 年」的全年影響。我預計 2.95 億英鎊確實是我們利息成本的峰值，可能會穩定在該水平附近，並在中期內下降。

In terms of tax, the reasons for the increase in tax this year are the BEPS 2.0 and the minimum tax and also interest deductibility caps. I think rising interest rates, more generally interest deductibility caps and withholding tax will continue to put some upward pressure on our tax rate beyond 2024.

在稅收方面，今年稅收增加的原因是BEPS 2.0以及最低稅收和利息扣除上限。我認為利率上升、更普遍的利息扣除上限和預扣稅將在 2024 年後繼續給我們的稅率帶來一些上行壓力。

Our next question comes from Nicolas Langlet of BNP Paribas.

我們的下一個問題來自法國巴黎銀行的尼古拉斯·蘭格萊。

I've got 3 questions, please. The first one on the AI investment. So of the GBP 250 million you plan to spend annually, how much was already spent in '23? And what's the net addition we should expect in '24? Second, on media in the U.S. So during the CMD, you mentioned the new strategy in the country to improve the go-to-market there. How long will it take to materialize in new contract gains and top line? Is it something already visible at the end of '24 or not?

我有 3 個問題，請教。第一個關於人工智慧投資的。那麼，您計劃每年花費 2.5 億英鎊，其中 23 年已經花費了多少？我們預計 24 年的淨增量是多少？其次，在美國媒體上，在 CMD 期間，您提到了該國改善市場准入的新策略。新合約收益和營收需要多長時間才能實現？它是否在 24 年底就已經可見？

And finally, on China, we are now 4 months after the bad press report in the country. What has been the feedback from clients here? What's the situation in the country for your media business? And what's the outlook for '24?

最後，關於中國，距離該國負面新聞報道已經過了四個月。這裡的客戶回饋如何？貴公司的媒體業務在國內的情況如何？ '24 的前景如何？

All right. So what do I tackle those? Look, I think on the AI investment, really, we're talking about the GBP 250 million going into AI. It's not really possible to say what's incremental and what's not incremental. You saw our increase in investment in technology from '22 to '23, which is significant, and we expect some of that refocus to take place in '24.

好的。那我該如何解決這些問題呢？看，我認為在人工智慧投資方面，我們實際上正在談論 2.5 億英鎊進入人工智慧領域。很難說什麼是增量、什麼不是增量。您看到我們從 22 年到 23 年在技術方面的投資有所增加，這一點意義重大，我們預計其中一些重點將在 24 年進行。

But I think the thing to focus on is it's included within our budget and really, the investment in AI 10 years ago was 0 and now it's GBP 250 million. So I think of that on that basis as being GBP 250 million of incremental investment from where we started.

但我認為值得關注的是它包含在我們的預算中，實際上，10 年前對人工智慧的投資是 0，現在是 2.5 億英鎊。因此，我認為在此基礎上我們將增加 2.5 億英鎊的增量投資。

In terms of the go-to-market, I think that we're very focused on new business, and we expect to have an impact as we go through the year. And lastly, on China, I can't comment on the specifics of what's going on in the market. But we -- China has been a challenging market for us and for others, and we do expect it to continue to be challenging from a macro perspective in 2024.

在進入市場方面，我認為我們非常關注新業務，我們預計在這一年中會產生影響。最後，關於中國，我無法評論市場上正在發生的具體情況。但對我們和其他人來說，中國一直是一個充滿挑戰的市場，我們確實預計從宏觀角度來看，2024 年它將繼續充滿挑戰。

Our next question comes from Tom Singlehurst of Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的湯姆辛格赫斯特。

Yes. It's Tom here from Citi. The sort of standard 3 questions, I'm afraid. First one on organic growth. Last year, especially at the 2Q and the 3Q, it felt like the sort of outturn caught you by surprise as well as us. Now I'm conscious that might have just been a function of a tough last month of each quarter. But can you just talk more broadly about visibility and how much visibility do you think you have on the year and therefore, on the phasing of growth? That was the first question.

是的。我是花旗銀行的湯姆。恐怕是標準的 3 個問題。第一個關於有機成長的。去年，特別是在第二和第三季度，這種結果感覺讓你和我們都感到驚訝。現在我意識到這可能只是每個季度最後一個月的艱難時期造成的。但您能否更廣泛地談論一下知名度，以及您認為今年以及分階段增長的知名度有多少？這是第一個問題。

Second question on the new business side. The $4.5 billion figure is a nice big chunky number, it's slightly down year-on-year, but it's still big. I just wanted to check whether that included retentions as well as sort of new-new business? And then I suppose, overall, for the year, would we expect the contribution from new business wins to be net positive, albeit I'm conscious Pfizer will be -- the loss will be skewed to the first half on when you take...

第二個問題，關於新業務方面。 45 億美元是一個不錯的大數字，雖然同比略有下降，但仍然很大。我只是想檢查一下這是否包括保留以及某種新的新業務？然後我想，總體而言，今年我們預計新業務勝利的貢獻將是淨正值，儘管我意識到輝瑞會是這樣——當你考慮時，虧損將偏向上半年。

Yes. Wouldn't I take that and Joanne, add what you wanted on the first question. Look, I think visibility in our business has always been good until it's not occurred. And I think that we were -- we did not expect the cuts in technology spend that happened throughout the year to take place when we started the year. I don't think it's a month's end in a quarter issue. It's just that we saw continued series of cuts as those companies adjusted their budgets to reflect reality, and maybe they were slow to tell us what they planned.

是的。我不接受嗎？看，我認為我們業務的知名度一直很好，直到它沒有發生。我認為，我們在年初時並沒有預期全年會發生技術支出的削減。我不認為這是季度刊的月末。只是隨著這些公司調整預算以反映現實，我們看到了一系列持續的削減，也許他們很慢才告訴我們他們的計劃。

But I think it was a surprise to us as we went through the year. And the biggest delta versus our budget, we expected to see some pressure in retail because we knew about that. But the biggest delta versus our budget was in technology companies, which you know is 20% of our business. We have the biggest exposure in our industry out there.

但我認為，在我們度過這一年的過程中，這對我們來說是一個驚喜。與我們的預算相比，最大的增量是，我們預計零售業會面臨一些壓力，因為我們知道這一點。但與我們的預算相比，最大的增量是科技公司，你知道，它們占我們業務的 20%。我們在我們的行業中擁有最大的曝光。

In terms of new business, we don't include retentions. It's wins or losses. We don't include retentions. Some of the conversion, some of the media analysts do that, but that's not the basis on which we do that. And then the last question, Tom, sorry, remind me. I didn't write it down.

就新業務而言，我們不包括保留業務。這是勝利還是失敗。我們不包括保留。一些轉化，一些媒體分析師會這樣做，但這不是我們這樣做的基礎。最後一個問題，湯姆，抱歉，提醒我。我沒有寫下來。

Actually, no, I haven't got there. But I was going to say...

事實上，不，我還沒有到達那裡。但我想說...

You're not there. Okay.

你不在那裡。好的。

Yes, that's fine, that's fine. Yes. I was going to say, though, on that point about budget cuts creeping up on you. Do you think budget recovery will creep up on you or is that more visible?

是的，沒關係，沒關係。是的。不過，我想說的是，在這一點上，預算削減正在悄悄降臨到你身上。您認為預算恢復會逐漸出現還是更明顯？

Well, I think if you look at our technology clients in '24, given the comparatives, they don't turn positive in Q1. But we do expect to be much more stable for the year overall. And I think we probably would expect to see a little bit more stability after the adjustments they've made last year.

好吧，我認為如果你看看我們 24 年的技術客戶，考慮到比較，他們在第一季並沒有變得積極。但我們確實預期今年整體會更加穩定。我認為，在去年的調整之後，我們可能會期望看到更多的穩定性。

Yes. Fair enough. And the final question was going to be, I mean, you sold a couple of investment stakes. There's obviously been the discussion about weighing options for Kantar. Is there a systematic process in place to wind down investments in holdings? Or is it an ad hoc opportunistic policy?

是的。很公平。最後一個問題是，我的意思是，你賣了一些投資股份。顯然，人們在討論凱度的權衡選擇。是否有系統化的流程來減少持股投資？還是臨時的機會主義政策？

No, no. I think we'd look at it systematically, but we're governed by when we can get the right price in terms of shareholder value. So we do look at it consistently. But the opportunities don't always present themselves when you want. I think you asked me a question on new business.

不，不。我認為我們會系統地看待它，但我們受制於何時能夠在股東價值方面獲得合適的價格。所以我們確實始終如一地看待它。但機會並不總是在你想要的時候出現。我想你問了我一個關於新業務的問題。

Look, I think the reality is that we will be impacted by losses in the beginning of the year, and we will see an underlying positive impact from new business if we are successful over the course of this year. So I'd say it's why we do expect the business to be somewhat second-half weighted. Joanne, do you want to add anything on the visibility or...

看，我認為現實情況是，我們將在年初受到虧損的影響，如果我們在今年取得成功，我們將看到新業務帶來的潛在正面影響。所以我想說，這就是為什麼我們確實預計下半年業務會受到一定程度的重視。喬安妮，你想在可見性上添加任何內容嗎？

Yes. I mean, I think Mark pretty much covered it. The big drivers will be tech recovery for us, which we've talked about. We like our exposure to tech, and that will recover at some point. The timing is a bit uncertain. We talked about macro H1 versus H2. The expectation is that the macro will improve from the H2. And then as Mark said, bringing in new business. I think that's why you should think about the biggest factor.

是的。我的意思是，我認為馬克幾乎涵蓋了它。我們已經討論過，最大的推動力將是我們的技術復甦。我們喜歡接觸科技，這種情況會在某個時候恢復。時間有點不確定。我們討論了宏觀 H1 與 H2。預計宏觀經濟將較下半年有所改善。然後正如馬克所說，引進新業務。我認為這就是為什麼你應該考慮最重要的因素。

Our next question comes from Adrien de Saint Hilaire of Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Adrien de Saint Hilaire。

I've got a few, if that's okay. So first of all, how much pricing contributed in your 2023 like-for-like growth? I think you previously talked about 2 or 3 points. And how do you think about 2024? Then I've got 2 questions for Joanne. A bit of an academic question. But in 2023, there was a negative impact of FX on margin, but you are not assuming this for 2024. Why is that not the case given the dollar move?

我有幾個，如果可以的話。首先，定價對 2023 年年成長貢獻了多少？我想你之前談到了2、3點。您如何看待 2024 年？我有兩個問題想問喬安妮。有點學術問題。但在 2023 年，外匯對保證金產生了負面影響，但您並沒有假設 2024 年也是如此。

And the third question is, could you provide a bit more guidance on what you would expect the cash flow conversion or generation to be for 2024 or perhaps go straight to like what do you expect average net debt to be for 2024 -- at the end of 2024?

第三個問題是，您能否就 2024 年現金流轉換或產生的預期提供更多指導，或直接回答您對 2024 年平均淨債務的預期——最後2024 年？

Why don't -- Joanne, why don't you tackle them all?

為什麼不——喬安妮，為什麼不把它們全部解決掉呢？

Yes. So I mean, on pricing, we talked about 2% to 3%. I think that's a reasonable assumption on 2023. Obviously, wage inflation is stabilizing a little bit, and we got to expect similar levels in terms of pricing in '24. Of course, as you will know, Adrien, in our business, it's not as simple as just looking at pricing increases and applying that to the top line. It's much more nuanced to the conversations that we have with clients and around passing on inflation that we're seeing, but also delivering efficiencies in how we operate with them and how that gets shared.

是的。所以我的意思是，在定價方面，我們討論了 2% 到 3%。我認為這是對 2023 年的合理假設。當然，阿德里安，您知道，在我們的業務中，這並不只是關注價格上漲並將其應用於營收那麼簡單。這對於我們與客戶的對話以及我們所看到的通膨的傳遞更加細緻，而且還提高了我們與客戶的合作方式以及共享方式的效率。

In terms of the negative impact, it was 25 basis points, and that was really driven by the U.S. dollar and sterling exchange rate. And what really is a big factor in the FX impact on our profitability is that we've seen through the year. So each month, the buildup of that through 2023 contributed or resulted in that 25 basis points. As we look at the rates as they stand today, we expect -- and taking into the (inaudible) in the profit mix through the year, we expect that to be flat on profit as we get through the year with a 2% headwind on the top line.

就負面影響而言，為25個基點，這實際上是由美元和英鎊匯率推動的。外匯對我們獲利能力影響的真正重要因素是我們這一年的經驗。因此，到 2023 年，每個月的累積都會貢獻或導致 25 個基點。當我們審視目前的利率時，我們預計，並考慮到全年利潤組合（聽不清楚），我們預計全年利潤將持平，且面臨 2% 的逆風。

And then on the cash flow conversion. I mean you asked about net debt, but I'd expect net debt to end up broadly flat year-on-year in terms of how we think about cash. We've given some guidance, restructuring costs will be a little bit higher because of the mergers and the GroupM simplification that we've shared and what that looks like. CapEx will be a little bit higher. That's really driven by a one-off CapEx related to some IT assets that we are enhancing and that will impact in 2024. And then we have the interest and the cash headwinds as well. And I'd expect working capital to be improving next year. So when you take all of that into the mix, I think you should assume net debt will be flat.

然後是現金流量的換算。我的意思是，您問的是淨債務，但我預計就我們對現金的看法而言，淨債務最終將與去年同期基本持平。我們已經給出了一些指導，由於我們所分享的合併和群邑簡化以及其外觀，重組成本將會略高一些。資本支出會稍高。這實際上是由與我們正在增強的一些 IT 資產相關的一次性資本支出推動的，這將在 2024 年產生影響。我預計明年的營運資金將會改善。因此，當你將所有這些因素考慮在內時，我認為你應該假設淨債務將持平。

And that's reported net debt and not average net debt, just to be clear?

需要明確的是，這是報告的淨債務，而不是平均淨債務？

Yes.

是的。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Julien Roch of Barclays.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Julien Roch。

My first question is, I know it's not something you've focused on in the Investor Day anymore and it's more a relic of the 2020 Investor Day. But when you guide to creative being up 2% to get to your 3% within creative, you have some faster growth business. You used to call them data, commerce and technology. You have Hogarth. So it used to be about 39% of creative ex GroupM -- or sorry, of global integrated agencies ex GroupM. If we could get the historical number for '23 or some indication of how much it was of GIA? That's my first question.

我的第一個問題是，我知道這不再是投資者日關注的焦點，而是 2020 年投資者日的遺留問題。但是，當您引導創意成長 2% 以達到創意中的 3% 時，您就會擁有一些成長更快的業務。您過去稱它們為數據、商業和技術。你有霍加斯。因此，過去 GroupM 之前的創意公司（或抱歉，GroupM 之前的全球綜合機構）中大約有 39% 都是這樣的。我們是否可以獲得 23 年的歷史數字或 GIA 的金額的一些指示？這是我的第一個問題。

And then the second question is going on Page 17 of the presentation to get to free cash flow, you've given us some indication on CapEx, taxes and interest, but taxes and interest are P&L, not cash flow. So I was wondering whether you could give us some indication on cash net interest, cash taxes and also if there's any variation in rent for '24?

然後第二個問題是在簡報的第 17 頁上討論自由現金流，您已經向我們提供了一些有關資本支出、稅收和利息的信息，但稅收和利息是損益表，而不是現金流量。所以我想知道您是否可以向我們提供一些有關現金淨利息、現金稅以及 24 年租金是否有任何變化的信息？

All right. On the first point, thank you for referring to our relics. I think that -- we just didn't find looking at -- it was communications, experience, commerce and technology helpful in terms of it's not the way we run our business. It's not the way clients buy our services. It's not the way we invoice it. It was just difficult to track. I don't think it was that helpful. So I don't have a number comparable to the 39%.

好的。關於第一點，感謝您提及我們的文物。我認為——我們只是沒有發現——溝通、經驗、商業和技術是有幫助的，但它不是我們經營業務的方式。這不是客戶購買我們服務的方式。這不是我們開發票的方式。只是很難追蹤。我認為這沒有那麼有幫助。所以我沒有與 39% 相媲美的數字。

If you remember, when we came back out of COVID, we did see very rapid growth in the communications part of our business. And actually, we've seen, as you know, during '23, some pullback on the technology part. But like others have said, Julien, I don't think those sort of year-on-year movements reflect the secular and structural trends. I think continues to persist towards technology. I think the best way for you to look at our business is the way we look at it, and I think that's what the disclosure currently supports. Joanne, can you take the rest of Julien's questions.

如果您還記得，當我們從新冠疫情中恢復過來時，我們確實看到了我們業務的通訊部分非常快速的成長。事實上，如您所知，我們在 23 年期間看到了技術部分的一些回落。但正如其他人所說，朱利安，我認為這種同比變動並不能反映長期和結構性趨勢。我認為繼續堅持技術。我認為您看待我們業務的最佳方式是我們看待它的方式，我認為這就是當前披露所支持的。喬安妮，你能回答朱利安剩下的問題嗎？

Yes. So Julien, I would expect interest and tax from a cash perspective to increase as well along with the P&L impact. And on rent, I'd expect rent to be probably slightly up on the year just reflecting some of the inflation-linked leases that we have.

是的。因此，朱利安，我預期從現金角度來看，利息和稅收也會隨著損益影響而增加。在租金方面，我預計今年的租金可能會略有上漲，這只是反映了我們擁有的一些與通貨膨脹相關的租賃。

Our next question comes from Adam Berlin of UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的亞當柏林。

Two questions left from me. The first one is within Global Integrated Agencies, you're showing the split between GroupM and the others, which I suppose is the creative agencies, which were -- which accelerated -- decelerated to minus 3.4% in the quarter. Can you just give us a split of how much of that decline was due to account losses versus cuts from your existing clients? And maybe some commentary about how that will look at Q1, that would be helpful.

我還剩下兩個問題。第一個是在全球綜合機構內部，你展示了群邑與其他機構之間的差距，我認為是創意機構，它們在本季加速下降至-3.4%。您能否告訴我們，這種下降有多少是由於帳戶損失與現有客戶的削減造成的？也許一些關於第一季度如何看待的評論會有所幫助。

And then the second thing on interest costs. You've got a fair amount of bonds coming up over the next few years to renew. Are you planning just to use cash to pay down some of these bonds or to renew them all? And if you're going to just renew the bonds, can you give us a sense of what the interest rates you're seeing in the market are like at the moment as you do that?

然後是關於利息成本的第二件事。未來幾年你將有相當數量的債券需要續約。您是否打算僅使用現金來償還部分債券或更新全部債券？如果您打算續簽債券，您能否讓我們了解您目前在市場上看到的利率是多少？

Yes. Okay. So look, I think in terms of that split, I think the biggest impact we had -- was had on our creative businesses was really lack of new projects (technical difficulty) work particularly in more technology-related areas to replace technology work that naturally finished. And we only really had one significant client loss last year, which you know was Pfizer, but that was substantial, and that did impact the creative agencies largely starting in Q4.

是的。好的。所以看，我認為就這種分裂而言，我認為我們對創意業務的最大影響確實缺乏新項目（技術難度）工作，特別是在與技術相關的領域，以取代自然而然的技術工作完成的。去年我們確實只有一個重大客戶流失，你知道就是輝瑞，但這確實是一個很大的客戶流失，這確實對創意機構產生了影響，主要是從第四季度開始的。

But I'd say that in the main, we had a good new business performance overall with that exception. Actually, R3 cable came out yesterday, which we ranked WPP second across creative plus media, and it was strong creatively. I talked about Ogilvy, very strong new business performance during the year, and Ogilvy did grow. But I think the impact on our creative agencies is largely project-related technology work and work from technology clients where they are particularly strong. Joanne, do you want to take the second?

但我想說的是，總的來說，除此之外，我們的新業務整體表現良好。其實昨天R3線就出來了，我們把WPP排在創意加媒體第二位，創意很強。我談到了奧美，這一年的新業務表現非常強勁，奧美確實有所成長。但我認為對我們創意機構的影響主要是與專案相關的技術工作以及技術客戶的工作，這些客戶的技術能力特別強。喬安妮，你想拿第二個嗎？

Yes. So just on the bond refinancing that we did last year, we've refinanced that bond at about 5.1%. Our blended interest rate is 3.25%. And so as we refinance our bonds this year, I'd expect that blended interest rate to increase 10, 20 basis points and your interest rates are, of course, expected to come down. I'd expect that we'll be refinancing that up at around 5%. It is our intention to refinance as bonds mature.

是的。因此，僅就我們去年進行的債券再融資而言，我們就以約 5.1% 的利率對該債券進行了再融資。我們的混合利率為 3.25%。因此，當我們今年為債券再融資時，我預計混合利率將增加 10、20 個基點，而您的利率當然預計會下降。我預計我們的再融資利率將提高 5% 左右。我們打算在債券到期時進行再融資。

(Operator Instructions) At this stage, we have no further questions registered, so I hand back over to Mark Read for any closing remarks.

（操作員說明） 在此階段，我們沒有登記任何其他問題，因此我將所有結束語交回給 Mark Read。

So thank you very much, everybody. I think hopefully, that was all clear. We know what we need to get on with in 2024. So thank you all, and we'll keep in touch.

非常感謝大家。我想希望這一切都清楚了。我們知道 2024 年需要做什麼。