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| Cindy Rose |
WPP reported $6.4B in IH revenues (like-for-like less pass-through costs), a 4.7 percent decrease from a year ago. Operating profit fell 2.7 percent to $536M.
CEO Cindy Rose said Phase 1 of her Elevate28 stabilization plan is “firmly on track” though “legacy account losses continue to weigh.”
She drew raves on the London Stock Exchange as WPP's battered shares popped 28.8 percent following the release of the financials.
Rose said the “objective for the first half was to put in place the building blocks of the new organizational structure and this is now complete.”
She warned that the financial performance turnaround will take time to fully flow through WPP operations.
Rose noted that strong new business wins and improved client retention along with cost savings “demonstrate that we are building a simpler, more competitive and higher-performing WPP.”
On a regional basis, North America declined 6 percent during 1H, EMEA fell 4.3 percent, APAC dropped 3.8 percent, and LATAM dipped 1.2 percent.
WPP’s automotive, healthcare and government sectors posted growth, while retail, consumer product goods, tech & digital posted declines.
The company showed a better 1H profit margin of 8.4 percent due to lower staff and severance costs.
It cut 8,468 jobs during the past year and expects to generate $270M in cost savings by divesting non-core agencies.
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.
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.
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.
