MILAN (Reuters) - WPP , the world's second largest advertising group, expects a flat 2009 compared with 2008 after a recovery in the second half, its chief executive said in an interview with an Italian newspaper.
"The first half of 2009 will be difficult, most of all for traditional media like newspapers, radio and TV and in particular in markets like the United States and western Europe," CEO Martin Sorrell told the daily Corriere della Sera, in comments published on Sunday.
"But in the second part of the year, I forecast a recovery strong enough to bring us back at par. To be clear, WPP (WPP.LO)calculates a flat 2009," he said.
A WPP spokesman said Sorrell's estimates of a flat 2009 referred to WPP's revenues.
(Reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Hans Peters)
