WPP CEO says confidence improves, not spending

MILAN, June 19 (Reuters) - WPP (WPP.L), the world's largest advertising group by revenue, sees confidence returning to the economy, but this has yet to result in new ad spending, Chief Executive Martin Sorrell said in an interview published on Friday.

"Compared with three months ago confidence has risen, managers are showing a change, but they have not translated that into new investments," he told Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore.

"Heart and wallet remain divided," he said.

Sorrell said China was an exception, noting that in April the advertising sector there grew 25 percent thanks to infrastructure investments and fiscal stimulus measures.

He said WPP would continue to invest in internet services.

"12 percent of WPP's world budget in 2009 is internet. You and I spend 20 percent of our time on the web. In two years' time up to 20 percent of WPP's budget will be internet and we will be spending 30 percent of our time surfing (the web)," he said.

(Reporting by Danilo Masoni; editing by Simon Jessop)