Dentsu's Q1 Performance: India and Japan Drive Growth

Despite macroeconomic headwinds and continued restructuring in key global markets, Dentsu Group delivered a resilient start to FY2026, with Japan and India emerging as key growth engines in the first quarter.

The Japanese advertising major reported a 0.8% organic growth in Q1 FY2026, an improvement over the 0.2% growth recorded in the corresponding quarter last year. Net revenue rose 2.7% year-on-year to ¥295.1 billion ($1.86 billion), while underlying operating profit climbed 11.5% to ¥37.8 billion.

The Americas saw organic decline of 3.0%, with the United States, the primary market, posting organic decline.

Japan remained the company’s strongest-performing market, posting 4.7% organic growth and extending its positive momentum for the twelfth consecutive quarter. APAC, excluding Japan, also delivered robust 7.5% growth, aided by strong momentum from India and Southeast Asia markets.

Under newly appointed global CEO Takeshi Sano, the network reiterated its focus on operational simplification, client-centricity and AI-led transformation. “We remain focused on putting client centricity, agility, and collaboration at the forefront of our approach while simplifying our overall structure and offer,” Sano said during the earnings update.

While Japan and India helped offset pressures in other geographies, dentsu’s Americas business continued to face challenges due to earlier client losses and softness in creative operations. EMEA, however, showed signs of stabilisation following cost restructuring and operational streamlining.

The company maintained its full-year FY2026 guidance of flat-to-1% organic growth globally, with Japan projected to grow 2–3% through the year.

India continues to remain strategically important for dentsu’s broader transformation ambitions. Earlier this year, the network launched dentsu.Connect in India, its integrated global operating system aimed at unifying data, AI, media, creative and technology capabilities into a connected delivery model.

The momentum also aligns with dentsu’s bullish outlook on the Indian advertising ecosystem. In its latest forecasts, the network projected India to remain among the fastest-growing advertising markets globally as digital, retail media and AI-led marketing accelerate across sectors.