Shares in WPP were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading ahead of the advertising firm's half year results, due out tomorrow.

The group is expected to report a strong recovery following the recession, which proved to be a difficult time for the advertising industry.

WPP is expected to have performed well, particularly in Asia, but performances in the U.S., Great Britain and Germany are also expected to offset weaker areas of the group's business.

Keith Bowman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said, "Increased marketing spend is expected by analysts to underpin an advertising recovery in the second half of the year. Ahead of results, consensus market opinion denotes a buy."

By 14:35 shares in WPP were up 1.12 per cent on the FTSE 100 to 674.50 pence per share.

FTSE Germany