WPP makes steep cut to revenue forecasts in H1 and full year 2025

At a time when CEO Mark Read has stepped down, the agency’s flagship brand GroupM has been dissolved and leadership shuffle happening across the network and regions, the advertising and marketing major WPP battles tough macroeconomic conditions and disappointing new business performance.

The agency on Wednesday surprised investors with an unscheduled trading update in which it made steep cuts to revenue and profit forecasts for H1 and full year 2025. Notably, WPP is set to report Q2 results on 7 August.

In its trading update for the first half of 2025, the group said like-for-like (LFL) revenue less pass-through costs is expected to decline between -4.2% and -4.5%, with Q2 alone plunging -5.5% to -6%, underperforming earlier forecasts.

As a result, the holding network expects annual revenues to plunge between 3% and 5%, much lower than the drop of between 0% and 2% that it forecast in February.

Profit margin for the first half will be down between 2.8% and 3.3%. The company now projects headline operating profit in the range of £400 million to £425 million, translating to a 280 to 330 basis point margin decline year-on-year, excluding foreign exchange effects.

CEO Mark Read in a statement admitted June trading was “worse than anticipated” and warned that weak momentum is likely to persist through the second half of the year. “We are reducing our expectations on LFL revenue less pass-through costs growth to -3% to -5%, from earlier guidance of flat to -2%,” he said.

WPP’s revised forecast also includes a decline in annual operating margin by 50 to 175 bps, a reversal from the previously expected flat margin. The downgrade comes despite ongoing cost-cutting efforts and severance actions within WPP Media.

Mark Read said, “Since the start of the year, we have faced a challenging trading environment with macro pressures intensifying and lower net new business. 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.”

“As a result, we are updating our guidance for the full year and reducing our expectations on LFL revenue less pass-through costs growth to -3% to -5% (from flat to -2%) with a year-on-year decline in headline operating profit margin of 50 to 175 bps (vs. around flat previously).”

“Our focus remains on ensuring the right balance between investing in the business for the long-term and continuing to reduce structural costs, while taking appropriate actions to respond to the current trading environment.”