Donald Trump's win is a second Brexit that will increase markets uncertainty, says WPP boss Martin Sorrell

Sir Martin admitted that it will take time to properly assess the economic implications of the election result

Sir Martin said the news "leaves many surprised, including the markets and me" (Bloomberg)

Donald Trump's shock victory over Hillary Clinton in an historic US presidential election is like a "second Brexit" that will increase economic uncertainty in the short term, Sir Martin Sorrell, the founder and chief executive of advertising giant WPP, has warned.

Sir Martin, whose wife Cristiana Falcone Sorrell gave birth on Election Day, admitted he was surprised by the result and said it will take a "significant amount of time to assess the implications" of the election result.

"Increased levels of uncertainty will mean more hesitation to make important decisions in the short term, both by people and governments. But it may accelerate implementation of helpful reforms in the medium term to reduce uncertainty and stimulate investment as a result," Sir Martin said.

"Clearly immigration, trade and terrorism were key issues that swayed electoral opinion in a very significant way, just as they did in the UK, and probably will in the European referenda and elections to come," he added.

The WPP chief concluded his reaction by saying that he felt there was "a lot of reassessment" still to come over polling techniques, which once again failed to predict the result.

"Electorates at times like these clearly don't like to be told how they're going to vote especially by the media and other elites," Sir Martin said.

Sir Martin, named the second best performing chief executive in the world by the Harvard Business Review, warned last month that his company had seen the first signs of “Brexit anxiety” in the UK.

WPP, reported third-quarter revenues of £3.6bn, up 3.2 per cent compared with the previous year but down slightly from the 3.5 per cent growth rate in the second quarter.

In the UK, growth has slowed to 2.1 per cent in the third quarter from 3.5 per cent in the second quarter.

Since the EU referendum the group has targeted expansion outside its home market, focusing on its four biggest markets in the EU particularly Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

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