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WPP tops the Financial Times’ list of the biggest stock market losers for 2025. The share price of Cindy Rose’s communications conglomerate, owner of Burson and Ogilvy, has plummeted 60 percent so far this year, losing more than half their value.
She is in the process of overhauling WPP after it reported a 5.9 percent drop in Q3 revenues, which Rose called “unacceptable.” She assumed the helm from Mark Read on Sept. 1.
The FT notes the whole advertising sector is grappling with the implications of AI technology “and its ability to create ads quickly and cheaply—for its business model.”
WPP’s woes are compounded by the loss of key clients. Its shares tumbled to their lowest levels since 1998 and the company fell out of the FTSE 100 for the first time in three decades.
Besieged by tech giants Meta and Amazon, WPP’s competitors are also singing the stock market blues.
Publicis Groupe’s shares have dipped 14 percent this year, while Omnicom stock was down 18 percent before the shares were “bailed out” by its acquisition of Interpublic.
Publicis Groupe’s H1 net revenues inched ahead by 1.1 percent to $8.3B. Organic growth hit the 4.7 percent mark.
Public Policy Holding Company grew 27.5 percent to $50.1M during Q1, powered by the accelerating contribution from recent acquisitions and a 5.1 percent hike in organic revenues across its three operating segments.
Institutional Shareholder Services advises investors to vote "no" on a compensation package for WPP chief Cindy Rose at the May 8 annual meeting.
FTI Consulting chalked up a 9.5 percent rise in Q1 revenues to $983.3M, powered by gains in its PR, corporate finance and technology segments.
Stagwell reports 4 percent growth in Q1 net revenues to $585M and a record $141M in net new business wins.
