WPP posts £3.2 bn rev in Q1, records 5.5% growth in India 

WPP has reported revenues of £3.24 billion in the first quarter, a 5% drop compared to the previous year, and a 0.7% decline on a like-for-like basis. 

The company’s revenue less pass-through costs has come in at £2.48 billion, down 2.7% like-for-like. 

CEO Mark Read said: “We continue to make solid progress on our strategic priorities. With the internal focus of integration behind them, VML and Burson are seeing renewed momentum in new business with Generali, Heineken and Levi Strauss & Co important wins during the quarter. The acquisition of InfoSum and its integration into GroupM’s data offer accelerates our AI-driven data approach, leapfrogging traditional identity-based solutions. We are also on track with the continued adoption of WPP Open across the organisation with 48,000 of our people (c.60% of client-facing staff) using it in March vs. 33,000 in December. 

“Our financial performance in Q1 was in line with our expectations, reflecting macroeconomic challenges and the timing of new business, and we expect these factors to continue in Q2 with performance anticipated to improve in the second half. 

“While WPP is not itself directly affected by tariffs, they will impact a number of our clients as well as the broader economy. At this point we have not seen any significant change in client spending and we reiterate our full-year guidance which already reflected a challenging environment. As ever, we remain agile and vigilant and will continue to be disciplined on how we are managing our cost base.” 

Geographically, WPP’s North America performance held steady, and India surged ahead with 5.5% growth, but China’s 17.4% decline underscored broader regional volatility. In sector terms, Consumer Packaged Goods and Tech saw gains, while Retail and Telecom dipped.

As Q1 closed, WPP reiterated its full-year guidance: flat to -2% like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs and stable margins, excluding currency effects.