M&C Saatchi sees annual profit 5%-10% below forecast

(Reuters) - Ad agency M&C Saatchi Plc <SAA.L> warned on Tuesday that it expects its annual operating profit and pretax profit to come in 5%-10% below estimates, hurt by losses at investee startup businesses and an accounting charge of 6.4 million pounds.

M&C Saatchi said it had engaged PwC to conduct an independent accounting review of the company after an internal review of specific units in the United Kingdom.

The company expects the accounting review to lead to a restatement of 2018 results to reflect any misstatements, it said.

Shares in the company were seen trading 10% lower on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)