6th Aug 2026 11:55
(Alliance News) - WPP PLC on Thursday said its transformation plan is on track, and the company backed annual guidance after seeing a "sequential improvement" in its second quarter.
Shares in the London-based advertising and marketing services group jumped 25% to 383.50 pence in London late on Thursday morning.
Over the past six months shares are up 43%, but sit 4.6% lower over the past 12 months.
WPP announced its 'Elevate28' plan in February to simplify the group and restore organic growth by transitioning from a holding company structure into a "single company" streamlined into four operating units. These are WPP Media, WPP Creative, WPP Production and WPP Enterprise Solutions.
Chief Executive Officer Cindy Rose said on Thursday: "We are firmly on track with phase 1 of our 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."
Pretax profit rose 8.2% to GBP106 million the first six months of 2026, from GBP98 million a year prior. Headline pretax profit, however, was 7.7% lower on-year at GBP277 million from GBP300 million.
Revenue was down 4.4% on a reported basis to GBP6.37 billion from GBP6.66 billion a year prior, declining 3.2% like-for-like.
Revenue less pass-through costs was down 5.6% on-year to GBP4.75 billion. On a like-for-like basis, it shrunk 4.7%. In the second quarter alone, it fell 2.3% on a reported basis, 2.8% like-for-like.
Headline operating profit declined 3.4% on-year in the first half to GBP398 million on a reported basis, declining 2.7% like-for-like. The operating profit margin, however, improved to 8.4% from 8.2% a year earlier.
CEO Rose added: "I am encouraged by our first-half performance which is in line with our 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."
As of June 30, WPP's headcount was 97,388 compared to 104,083 a year earlier, a reduction of 6.4%. Staff costs fell 5.9% year-on-year in the first half.
WPP left its interim dividend unchanged at 7.5p per share and confirmed it plans to maintain its total annual dividend at 15.0p per share.
"Organic growth remains our North Star. 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," the CEO added.
Looking ahead, WPP expects like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs to decline by "low to mid-single digits" in the second half. It expects a headline operating profit margin between 12% and 13%, in line with its prior view. In 2025, the headline operating profit margin was 13.0%.
WPP was relegated from the FTSE 100 for the first time after nearly 30 years in December 2025. WPP's market capitalisation is currently about GBP4.14 billion, having fallen from around GBP24 billion in 2017.
By Niall Holden, Alliance News reporter
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