The news hit Cordiant's share price hard, pushing it down by 40.8%p, to 56.5p. As recently as July, Cordiant shares were valued around 190p, but they have lost over 70% of their value in recent months.
CEO Michael Bungey, however, has denied the plunge makes Cordiant a potential takeover target. He told a press conference this morning that the group had not been approached, and was not in talks with any company that could lead to Cordiant losing its independent status.
Speculation of a sale has surrounded Cordiant, which is the world's 10th-largest advertising group, since the spring when Bungey said Cordiant was ripe for a takeover from rivals and suggested they move quickly "before the price increases".
The group, which owns the Bates advertising network and 50% of Zenith Media, blames the current economic climate, along with the terrorist attacks on the US, for the deterioration in revenues.
It plans to go ahead with a cost-cutting programme announced earlier this year. This will include making redundancies to help achieve £10m in cost savings.
A statement from Cordiant said that the current trading conditions are the most difficult experienced in recent years.
"In light of the current circumstances we are in the process of re-evaluating our cost base targets," said Cordiant.
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