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| Mark Read |
WPP CEO Mark Read reports WPP like-for-like revenues declined 1.9 percent during Q4 and 1.6 percent for the full year to $14B.
He said 2019 was “the foundational year for the new WPP strategy.” It featured the divestiture of the majority stake in Kantar, mergers, office consolidations and the layoff of 3,500 people.
The PR group (BCW, H+K Strategies, Finsbury, Glover Park, Hering Schuppener and Buchanan) remained in the doldrums, posting a 1.0 percent revenue decline to $1.2B for the full-year.
Business picked up a bit during Q4 as revenues dipped 0.1 percent compared to 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent fall-offs during Q3 and the first half, respectively.
Reed projects flat revenue growth during 2020, which is the second year of his promised three-year transformation of the ad/PR giant.
The CEO remains optimistic about WPP’s future in the communications sector because “the marketing landscape has never been more dynamic and complex, and clients need our help and expertise more than ever.”
He admits though that WPP still has much more work to be done.
WPP chief Cindy Rose is cutting up to 1,000 jobs by the end of the year, adding to the 11K jobs lost since the start of 2025, according to a report in the Financial Times.
WPP CEO Cindy Rose declares her stabilization plan is "firmly on track" as the company reports a 4.7 percent dip in 1H revenues.
FTI Consulting reported a 2.6 percent drop in Q2 strategic communications revenues to $100M, a shortfall largely due to a $7.4M decline in pass-through revenues.
Omnicom CEO John Wren reported a 7.2 percent rise in Q2 “core operations” to $6B and a 6.1 percent spurt on an organic basis.
Publicis Groupe’s H1 net revenues inched ahead by 1.1 percent to $8.3B. Organic growth hit the 4.7 percent mark.
