WPP H1 revenue down 7.8%, operating profit drops 47.8%

WPP reported a 7.8% drop in first-half revenue for FY 25, with like-for-like (LFL) revenue down 2.4%. Revenue excluding pass-through costs came in at £5.03 billion, down 4.3% LFL and 10.2% . In Q2, revenue less pass-through costs stood at £2.54 billion, declining 5.8% LFL and 12.6% on a reported basis 

Headline operating profit margin for H1 fell to 8.2%, down approximately 2.9 percentage points LFL, while reported operating profit plunged 47.8% to £221 million, including a £116 million impairment charge.

By sector, WPP Media declined 2.9% in H1 and 4.7% in Q2, while other creative agencies registered declines of 5.8% H1 and 7.2% in Q2 

Regional performance showed North America down 2.4% (Q2: -4.6%), UK -6.0% (Q2: -6.5%), with a notable drop in China of 16.6% (Q2: -15.9%). India remained flat at 0.1% in H1 but softened in Q2 (-3.9%) 

WPP’s top 25 clients were broadly flat (+0.1% LFL), though there was pressure in Tech, Automotive, and Healthcare sectors during Q2, and Consumer-Packaged Goods also declined in the later period 

Despite the weak first half, WPP reaffirmed its full-year forecast for a 3–5% LFL decline in revenue less pass-through costs and a 50–175 basis points headwind on headline operating profit margin excluding currency impacts

Mark Read, chief executive officer of WPP, said: “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.

“The board is declaring an interim dividend of 7.5p ahead of a review of the strategy and future capital allocation policy which will be led by Cindy Rose, who succeeds me as CEO on 1 September. The priority is to drive sustainable growth supported by an appropriate level of financial flexibility while balancing returns to shareholders.

“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.”