WPP's Q1 Revenues Slide 5%, but Tariffs Aren't to Blame

Following disappointing 2024 financial results, WPP's revenue took another hit in Q1 2025. Although tariff chaos engulfed the market in the first three months of the year, chief executive (CEO) Mark Read told investors that client budgets had not been hugely impacted. The numbers 5% -- year-on-year revenue decline in Q1 2025 with total revenues clocking in at $4.2 million (£3.2 million). 2.7% -- dip in Q4 revenue less pass-through costs to reach $3.3 billion (£2.48 billion). This was ever so slightly below the consensus forecast by analysts. 17.4% -- revenue decline in China and a 4.5% decrease in takings from Western Continental Europe. North America was broadly flat, while the U.K. declined by 5.5%. India grew 5.5%. Watercooler talk Despite an unremarkable start to the year, WPP's Q1 results were in line with the expectations Read outlined in February. The organisation has retained its full-year guidance for 2025, predicting like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs to range between 0% and -2%. "I don't want to give the impression that we're happy with these results. We're not," Read told investors and journalists on the post-results call. "It's not where we want to be, and we have concrete plans to address the areas of competitive underperformance." Declines in China (where WPP's media-buying division has experienced losses following a Shanghai police investigation into bribery allegations) and Europe dragged down WPP's total revenue growth. Account losses in Q1 included Coca-Cola moving its North America media account to Publicis. Account wins included nabbing Heineken's global shopper marketing and commerce account. WPP's top 25 clients saw growth of 2.5% in the three months to March, driven by "robust" performance in CPG and improvement in tech and digital client spend. Retail, telecom, and travel saw declines. One bright spot for Read was WPP's acquisition of data collaboration platform InfoSum, which he said will improve WPP's access to "accelerate its AI-driven data approach, leapfrogging traditional identity-based solutions." Year-on-year revenue declined at GroupM, the jewel in the crown of WPP's turnaround plan, by 0.9%, with growth in the U.S. offset by client losses from "previous years" and weakness in China. Read was bullish that tariff uncertainty had not yet upended client spend. He said that clients had learned from events such as Covid-19 lockdowns and the Ukraine war and were better prepared to handle macroeconomic shifts. "There's nothing we're not used to dealing with, and clients have learned how to prioritize their spending, they see [advertising]—to some extent—as a cost in the short term and [an] investment in the long term." Key Quote “While WPP is not itself directly affected by tariffs, they will impact a number of our clients as well as the broader economy," said Read. "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.”

Earnings Reports

WPP's Q1 Revenues Slide 5%, but Tariffs Aren't to Blame

CEO Mark Read says the business has not seen 'any significant change in client spending' amid market turmoil

The numbers

Rebecca Stewart

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications