WPP Q1 net sales held back by weaker North America

LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - WPP (Frankfurt: A1J2BZ - news) , the world's largest advertising group, reported a 0.8 percent rise in first-quarter like-for-like net sales growth, slightly shy of expectations at around 1 percent, due to a weak performance in North America.

WPP said however that it had seen a resumption of net new business momentum in the first three months of the year, winning $2.1 billion of net new work in the first quarter, compared with $1.8 billion at the same time last year.

It reiterated its outlook for the year, targeting net sales growth of around 2 percent and said it expected to have a stronger second half of the year. (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Alistair Smout)