The group, which owns the Bates Worldwide advertising network, also axed 400 jobs.
The news comes only weeks after Cordiant announced that it was to hand £6m to six key directors, including chief executive Michael Bungey and finance director Arthur D'Angelo.
Speaking at the marketing group's AGM, executive chairman Charles Scott told shareholders that overall profitability would be affected as a result of slowing revenue growth at some of the group's operations.
Cordiant's shares closed down 24p at 220.5p yesterday and continued to fall this morning. In early trading, they had dropped over 5p to 215p.
Scott was confident, however, that the group's margins will improve throughout the year.
He said, "Revenues for the first quarter of 2001 grew 47% at constant exchange rates with underlying growth up 3.2%. Revenue growth for 2001 as a whole is now expected to be in line with the market."
Earlier this month, Cordiant announced it was to merge its German-based agency Scholz & Friends with a German TV company, United Visions Entertainment.
Cordiant is the world's ninth-largest global marketing communications group, with more than 14,000 employees in 81 countries. As well as Bates, it jointly owns Zenith Media with Publicis Groupe of France