WPP has slashed its full-year guidance for 2025, citing weaker client spend and lower net new business in a shock earnings call.
In an unscheduled H1 update, chief executive (CEO) Mark Read told investors: “Since the start of the year, we have faced a challenging trading environment with macro pressures intensifying and lower net new business.”
He added: “While we expected the second quarter to be similar to the first quarter, performance in June was worse than anticipated, and we expect this pattern of trading in the first half to continue into the second half.
The Numbers
3% to 5% — How much WPP now expects revenue, less pass-through costs, to decline in 2025. This is a drop from its previous forecast predicting a decline between 0 to 2%.
4.2% to 4.5% — WPP’s predicted drop in first half revenues, with a steeper “below-expectations decline” of 5.5% to 6% in the second quarter.
17.1% — The amount the London ad network’s share price tumbled on the news at the time of publication.
$544 million to $578 million (£400 million to £425 million) — Predicted headline operating profit for the first half of 2025, owing to lower revenues and severance action at WPP Media.
Watercooler Talk
Read, who will step down as WPP CEO in December after seven years, made the unusual move of delivering a trading update four weeks before the company’s planned Q2 results on August 7.
In a Q&A call joined by ADWEEK, Read said WPP’s issues have primarily been with WPP Media, which rebranded and undertook an unspecified number of layoffs earlier this year. He also said Ogilvy had been impacted by “project-related” work.
The CEO added that there was “more pressure on the top line” from “cautious clients,” which was leading to “fewer, smaller opportunities” for WPP. Read did not mention how President Trump’s tariffs had affected WPP’s performance.
The U.K.-headquartered holdco has suffered several significant client losses this year at the hands of French rival Publicis Groupe, which toppled its crown as the world’s largest ad network by revenues in January.
Since then, WPP has lost Coca-Cola’s $700 million North America media business to rival Publicis, chipping away at its $4 billion relationship with the beverage giant.
At the start of June, Paramount dropped WPP Media after two decades of working together and hired Publicis. This change was not the result of a review and reportedly surprised many. A few weeks later, the company lost out on Mars’ $1.7 billion media review with the brief once again moving to Publicis.
