WPP has written down its $589m investment in controversial comScore by $218m so far

BLOCKLEY, U.K. - Sept. 11, 2016 - PRLog -- WPP, the world's largest marketing group, has written down its investment in the controversial US audience measurement company comScore and its subsidiary Rentrak by $218 million (or about £145 million) over the last two years, according to research by Marketing Services Financial Intelligence (www.fintellect.com).

comScore faces the threat of having its shares suspended from trading on NASDAQ, the US stock market, this month after its audit committee revealed potential concerns about certain accounting and disclosure practices and controls, and the company failed to file its annual report and quarterly returns with the Securities & Exchange Commission by their due dates.

WPP had previously recorded gains of $220 million from the disposal of audience measurement businesses to comScore and Rentrak by its Kantar research division as part payment for its shareholding in the comScore group.

In response to enquiries by Marketing Service Financial Intelligence WPP revealed that its total investment in comScore by 30 June this year totalled $589 million (in cash and businesses exchanged) and that this had already been written down to a book value of $371 million, equivalent to $35 per share. On that date comScore shares were being traded at only $24 per share and so the market value of WPP's investment was worth even less than the $371 million book value. However, the comScore share price has improved since then and stood at $30 last Friday.

WPP holds 19.5% of comScore's issued capital.