The advertising group maintained its 2026 guidance after reporting weaker first-half revenue, with management pointing to event timing for a 2.9% like-for-like decline in India and targeting a return to growth in 2027.
WPP is leaning harder into artificial intelligence, commerce and integrated client services as it works through a broader revenue slowdown and client spending pullbacks. For the half-year ended June 30, reported revenue fell 4.4% to £6.37 billion from £6.66 billion a year earlier, while revenue less pass-through costs declined 4.7% on a like-for-like basis to £4.75 billion. Headline operating profit slipped 3.4% to £398 million, though the headline operating margin improved to 8.4% from 8.2%. India, a key market for the group, posted a 2.9% like-for-like revenue decline in the first half. Chief Financial Officer Joanne Wilson said growth moderated in the second quarter mainly because of the timing of major sporting events and said the company expects growth to resume in the second half. The broader Asia-Pacific region fell 3.8% in the first six months but returned to marginal growth of 0.3% in the second quarter. Chief Executive Cindy Rose said the results were in line with expectations as WPP advances its Elevate28 overhaul, which is designed to simplify the company from a traditional holding-company model into a single integrated business organized across media, creative, production and enterprise solutions. WPP Media revenue less pass-through costs fell 5.4% on a like-for-like basis, WPP Creative dropped 4.9%, and WPP Production rose 1.6%. The company is positioning future growth around commerce, customer experience and AI-enabled marketing. WPP launched WPP Enterprise Solutions in July, combining commerce, CRM, customer experience, content transformation and AI-powered marketing operations. The division generated about £1.8 billion in revenue last year and counts IKEA, Ford, Nestlé and L'Oréal among its clients. WPP also expanded AI partnerships with Google, Adobe, Meta, Amazon Web Services and Microsoft, adding new capabilities to its WPP Open platform, which the company said links more than 350 data partners and insights across five billion consumers in over 100 markets. Client spending remains uneven. Consumer-packaged-goods revenue fell 9.1% in the first half, technology and digital-services revenue dropped 9.2%, and retail declined 2.7%, while healthcare and pharmaceutical clients grew 2.9%. WPP retained business including Reckitt in India and global accounts such as Huawei, Tesco, L'Oréal and Skechers, while winning new mandates from The Estée Lauder Companies, Henkel and Wendy's. The company maintained its full-year guidance, expects about £100 million of savings this year under a plan targeting £500 million in annualized savings by 2028, and continues to aim for a return to growth in 2027.