29th Oct 2026 10:01
(Alliance News) - WPP PLC on Thursday reiterated its annual guidance following a third-quarter performance in line with expectations, as the company continued implementing its Elevate28 strategic turnaround plan.
The London-based advertising and marketing services group said revenue for the three months to September 30 rose 0.5% to GBP3.27 billion from GBP3.26 billion a year earlier.
Revenue less pass-through costs fell 2.0% on a reported basis to GBP2.41 billion from GBP2.46 billion.
For the nine months to September 30, revenue fell 2.8% to GBP9.65 billion from GBP9.92 billion, while revenue less pass-through costs declined 4.4% to GBP7.16 billion from GBP7.49 billion.
Broken down by region, third-quarter like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs fell 1.8% in North America, 1.7% in Europe, the Middle East & Africa, 4.3% in Asia Pacific and 1.2% in Latin America. The group's top 25 clients also recorded a 2.7% decline in like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs, narrowed from 3.2% quarter-on-quarter.
Looking ahead, WPP said it continued to expect like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs to decline by a low to mid-single-digit percentage in the second half of 2026, with fourth-quarter performance towards the better end of this range.
The group maintained its full-year headline operating profit margin guidance of 12% to 13%.
It expects adjusted operating cash flow before working capital of GBP800 million to GBP900 million, or GBP1.00 billion to GBP1.10 billion excluding anticipated restructuring costs associated with previous plans and Elevate28.
Elevtate28, announced in February, is WPP's multi-year strategic plan to simplify the company, seeing it transition from a holding company structure to a single company made up of four core operating units.
Chief Executive Officer Cindy Rose said: "We are on track to deliver phase one of 'Elevate28': stabilising our business performance and laying the foundations for a simpler, more unified WPP."
Rose said demand remained healthy for the group's artificial intelligence-enabled media, creative, production and enterprise solutions, powered by its WPP Open marketing platform. She added that third-quarter results showed further sequential improvement in like-for-like growth.
"We remain focused on disciplined execution as we prepare for the 'Build' phase of 'Elevate28' and position WPP for a return to growth during 2027," she added.
WPP shares rose 2.2% to 392.50 pence on Thursday morning in London.
By Niall Holden, Alliance News reporter
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