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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.
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.
