We all knew WPP’s half year 2025 results were going to be awful following the profit warning last month and indeed they are.
Revenue compared to 2024 (hardly a brilliant year) is down 7.8% to £6.63bn from £7.2bn and organic revenue (revenue less pass-through costs for WPP, its preferred measure of growth – or lack of it) is down a whopping 10.2% (4.3% like for like.) By comparison rivals Publicis Groupe and Omnicom are growing at about 5% and 2% respectively.
Worryingly operating profit nearly halved from £423m to £221m. Its interim dividend to shareholders, previously a big suport for the share price, is halved. The company announced a somewhat overdue “strategic review,” which usually means disposals are being considered. WPP is now valued at just over £4bn.
CEO Mark Read, handing over to successor Cindy Rose in September, says: “It has been a challenging first half given pressures on client spending and a slower new business environment. We have, however, made significant progress on the repositioning of WPP Media, simplifying its organisational model to increase effectiveness and reduce costs. Meanwhile, the acquisition of InfoSum, the launch of Open Intelligence and the continued adoption of WPP Open all strengthen our data and technology capabilities.
“WPP is a company with enormous strengths in creativity and media, technology and AI, talented people, deep client relationships and unmatched global reach. Throughout my seven years as CEO, technological innovation has been a constant and I believe that thanks to our investment in AI we can look to the future with confidence. I would like to thank our clients for their partnership and our people for their dedication and I wish them, and Cindy, every success in the future.”
Rose (above) is going to need all the help she can get to turn this business, once the acknowledged leader among the ad holding companies, around. When a new CEO comes in its’s usual to do a kitchen sink job – get most of the bad news out of the way in one hit – and she’ll be hoping this is one such example.
But it’s hardly the way Read, who succeeded founder Sir Martin Sorrell, in 2018, would have wanted to sign out.
