The numbers
–8.1% – revenue decline for 2025, down 3.6% on a like-for-like basis to $18.3 billion (£13.6 billion)
–10.4% – decline in 2025 revenue less-pass-through costs, down 5.4% on a like-for-like basis to $13.6 billion (£10.1 billion)
–8.3% – Q4 revenue decline, down 5.5% on a like-for-like basis to $4.8 billion (£3.6 billion)
–10.1% – decline in Q4 revenue less-pass-through costs, down 6.9% on a like-for-like basis to $3.6 billion (£2.7 billion)
$675 million (£500 million) – The amount in annual cost savings WPP hopes to generate by 2028
Watercooler talk
WPP revealed a sweeping two-year strategy reset to help it return to growth after a difficult period of revenue decline that saw it drop out of the FTSE 100 index at the end of 2025.
Its new strategy under CEO Cindy Rose is called Elevate28, which will see WPP restructure into a streamlined organization of four divisions: WPP Media, WPP Production, WPP Enterprise Solutions, and the newly created WPP Creative. The latter will be made up of creative agencies VML, Ogilvy, and AKQA, led by current VML CEO Jon Cook.
Key quote
“Our recent underperformance has been driven by excessive organizational complexity, a lack of an integrated operating model and inconsistent strategic execution,” Rose said. “While disappointing, I see huge potential as these issues are all within our power to fix, and we’re already making great progress.”
