WPP’s revenue in the first half of the year (2026) (H1) is £6,373m, down 4.4% from £6,663m in H1 2025, and down 3.2% like-for-like (LFL). Revenue less pass-through costs was £4,745m, down 5.6% from £5,026m in H1 2025, and down 4.7% LFL.
H1 reported operating profit margin was 4.1% and headline operating profit margin was 8.4%, representing a LFL increase of 0.2pt, helped by lower headline severance YoY and cost savings.
The Group continues to expect an improving LFL growth trajectory in the second half, with LFL revenue less pass-through costs overall down low to mid-single digits in H2, and expects FY headline operating margin to be in the range of 12% to 13%.
The Group’s H1performance is in line with expectations, with the Elevate28 “Stabilise” phase on track and the Group expects an improving LFL trajectory in H2.
Q2 revenue less pass-through costs of £2,485m was down 2.3% on a reported basis and 2.8% LFL.
Performance in the quarter benefited particularly from an improvement in trend at WPP Media compared to the first quarter as well as the impact of easing comparisons.
Cindy Rose OBE, chief executive officer of WPP, says she is encouraged by their first-half performance, which is in line with their expectations.
“While legacy account losses continue to weigh, Q2 saw a further sequential improvement in LFL growth, highlighting the momentum we are building across the company and demonstrating that our strategy to become the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands is beginning to deliver.”
She adds that the group is firmly on track with Phase 1 of its Elevate28 plan to stabilise the business.
“Our objective for the first half was to put in place the building blocks of the new organisational structure, and this is now complete.
“We are successfully transitioning from a complex holding company to a single, integrated company – with four operating units across four regions, all underpinned by WPP Open, our agentic marketing platform, which enables and connects everything we do," she says.
“Organic growth remains our North Star,” she emphasises.
“While the turnaround of our financial performance will take time to fully flow through, our strong new business wins and improved client retention, as well as progress on cost savings and portfolio actions, demonstrate that we are building a simpler, more competitive and higher-performing WPP.”
H1 revenue less pass-through costs of £4,745m was down 5.6% reported and down 4.7% LFL. Q2 revenue less pass-through costs of £2,485m was down 2.3% reported and down 2.8% LFL. H1 reported revenue of £6,373m was down 4.4%, with a LFL decline of 3.2%.
Global Integrated Agencies H1 LFL revenue less pass-through costs fell 4.7% (Q2: -2.8%), with WPP Media declining 5.4% (Q2: -2.8%), WPP Creative declining 4.9% (Q2: -3.5%), softened by WPP Production growing 1.6% (Q2: +1.3%). By geography, North America declined 6.0% (Q2: -4.3%), EMEA -4.3% (Q2: -3.0%), APAC -3.8% (Q2: +0.3%) and LATAM -1.2% (Q2: +0.9%).
WPP’s top 25 clients' LFL revenue less pass-through costs was down 6.3% in the first half, with an improving trajectory in Q2, down 3.2%. The H1 performance reflects client assignment losses from the prior year and is against a tough comparison. By client sector, CPG, Tech & Digital Services and Retail continued to see LFL declines in the second quarter; however, Automotive, Healthcare and Government saw a return to growth.
H1 headline operating profit was £398m, a margin of 8.4% (H1 2025: 8.2%), up 0.2pt LFL.The margin improvement reflects lower staff and headline severance costs as well as cost savings, offset by the decline in revenue less pass-through costs. H1 reported operating profit was £261m, up 18.1%, predominantly due to lower impairment charges compared to the prior period.
30 June 2026 adjusted net debt was £2,935m (30 June 2025: £3,261m, 31 December 2025: £2,167m), down £326m from 30 June 2025, including the beneficial impact of £125m due to IFRS 9 amendments. Average adjusted net debt at 30 June 2026 was £3,304m, compared to £3,404m at 31 December 2025.
WPP has made significant progress in its transition from a holding company structure to a single, integrated operating model.
Following the earlier consolidation of WPP Production, the company officially launched its unified, tech-powered WPP Enterprise Solutions unit on 1 July to capture high-growth demand for enterprise AI transformation.
In addition, WPP Creative has restructured its legacy infrastructure into four regional P&Ls to enable greater interoperability and joint agency wins. Client delivery is now organised across four streamlined operating units, with common incentive models driving more effective cross-unit collaboration.
WPP Open serves as WPP’s central operating platform, increasingly driving day-to-day workflows, automating high-volume creative, production and media activation. Open Intelligence, its AI-powered data layer, is being actively deployed, driving meaningful uplift in media performance for clients.
In Q2, it expanded key strategic technology and data partnerships with Google, Meta, and AWS to integrate advanced predictive and generative AI tools directly into the platform.
These integrations, including a predictive Cultural Intelligence Engine developed with Google Cloud, are already deployed in-market to help clients act ahead of shifting consumer trends.
WPP's unified, tech- and data-enabled proposition has driven strong momentum in new business.
Key first-half wins include consolidated mandates for The Estée Lauder Companies, Henkel, and Wendy's, alongside major integrated regional assignments in Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific, as well as key retentions, including Skechers across multiple markets, Tesco in the UK and Central Europe, Huawei in China, L'Oréal in AUNZ, Uber in APAC and Deutsche Bahn in Germany.
The Group is on track to deliver £100m of in-year savings in 2026 as part of the broader Elevate28 programme, targeting £500m in gross annualised cost savings by 2028, thereby unlocking capital to support reinvestment in our primary growth engines.
Furthermore, it has made progress in rationalising its portfolio, with several non-core asset disposals. Based on activity to date, it expects FY proceeds from disposal-related activity of over £200m. It continues to make progress on further potential asset disposals and will provide updates as appropriate.The Group continues to expect an improving trajectory in the second half and expects LFL revenue less pass-through costs overall to decline low to mid-single digits in H2.
It maintains its full year margin expectation of 12% to 13%. This is consistent with second half margins decreasing by up to c.200 bps year-on-year, reflecting the phasing of our investment plans, including both investment in growth initiatives and the rebuilding of our incentives.
