WPP falls back in Q1 2026 – but says it’s all in the plan
It’s not very often that a company sees its Q1 revenue take a powder and announce it as some kind of triumph but that appears to be the case with Cindy Rose’s new look WPP.
Q1 revenue of £3,030m was down 6.6% YoY on a reported basis and down 4.0% like-for-like (LFL), while revenue less pass-through costs of £2,260m (its preferred measure of organic growth – or not) was down 6.7%. Performance in the quarter was consistent with well-flagged expectations and guidance says WPP.
WPP says it notes ongoing uncertainty given events in the Middle East (something of an understatement), but still expects its 2026 LFL revenue less pass-through costs (there have been a number of disposals) to decline in the mid to high-single digits in the first half of 2026 with an improving trajectory in the second half. It expects its headline operating profit margin to be 12% to 13% (against 15% or so in a good year.)
CEO Rose ||(above) strikes an optimistic note: “Building a simpler, integrated WPP – powered by WPP Open – is resonating with clients and driving strong new business. While it is only a few months since we unveiled our Elevate28 strategy, I am encouraged by this momentum which validates the ‘Stabilisation’ phase of the plan and our path to growth.
“Consistent organic growth remains our North Star. While it will take time to outpace historical losses, our Q1 results are in line with expectations and ahead of Q4 2025.
“I would like to thank our clients and partners for their trust, our shareholders for their continued support and our people for their unwavering commitment as we execute our plan.”
It’s the latter who are key to WPP’s fortunes, despite all the noise about AI-powered WPP Open. Changes are happoening with more to come. Just this week Ogilvy, one of the big components of WPP Open, saw EMEA CEO Patou Nuytemans depart and Ewen Sturgeon, formerly CEO of VML EMEA (the agency that now includes Wunderman Thompson, Y&R and JWT) installed as EMEA CEO of newly-minted WPP Creative, under VML’s John Cook. James Murphy, who sold New Commercial Arts to WPP in the Mark Read era, now finds himself reporting to someone else.
Murphy, now heading Ogilvy in the UK, is a past president of the UK Advertising Association (which represents advertisers and media owners as well as agencies) as well as an accomplished CEO. Rose needs to get these big calls right.
