LONDON, Aug 4 Reuters WPP, the world39;s biggest advertising group, downgraded its fullyear likeforlike growth forecast to 1.53.0 from 35 after lower spending from tech clients caused its revenue in North America to decline in the second quarter.

Chief Executive Mark Read said the group delivered a resilient performance in the first half, with growth accelerating in all regions except the United States.

The U.S. was impacted in the second quarter by lower spending from technology clients and some delays in technologyrelated projects, he said on Friday.

China returned to growth in the second quarter albeit more slowly than expected.

The British company reported a 2.0 rise in likeforlike revenue less passthrough costs to 5.81 billion pounds 7.39 billion in the first half.

1 0.7865 pounds

Reporting by Paul Sandle; editing by William James

Source Reuters