WPP India reports ‘broadly flat’ growth in H1, Q2 revenue decline by 3.9%

New Delhi: Treading through a challenging first half, WPP India recorded a 3.9% decline in revenue during the second quarter of 2025. 

The overall global performance of WPP saw a 10.4% decline in revenue on-year, with significant declines across the global profile that includes North America declined (-4.6%), UK (-6.5%), Western Continental Europe (-6.5%), India (-3.9%) and China (-15.9%).

The results mentioned India’s growth as being ‘broadly flat’ with a 0.1% increase, while China registered the sharpest decline of 15.9% in H1.

WPP reported H1 2025 revenue of £6,663 million, marking a 7.8% decline on a reported basis and a 2.4% drop like-for-like (LFL). Revenue less pass-through costs stood at £5,026 million, down 4.3% LFL. 

In Q2, revenue less pass-through costs came in at £2,544 million, down 12.6% reported and 5.8% LFL.

The company posted a reported operating profit margin of 3.3% for the half-year, while the headline operating profit margin stood at 8.2%, reflecting a LFL decrease of 2.9 percentage points.

Despite a subdued market activity, WPP Media, in H1, won accounts for Electronic Arts, Hisense and Hero MotoCorp in Media, L’Oréal and Samsung in Influencer, TK Maxx and Honda in PR, and Generali, IKEA and Heineken in Creative and Commerce.

WPP also mentioned that “AI, data, and technology remain central to how we serve clients, driving expanded scopes of work with existing partners and supporting new business growth. Usage of WPP Open continues to rise, with approximately 85% of client-facing staff using the platform in June, up from around 60% in March.” 

Commenting on the results, Mark Read, CEO, WPP, said, “It has been a challenging first half given pressures on client spending and a slower new business environment. We have, however, made significant progress on the repositioning of WPP Media, simplifying its organisational model to increase effectiveness and reduce costs. 

Meanwhile, the acquisition of InfoSum, the launch of Open Intelligence and the continued adoption of WPP Open all strengthen our data and technology capabilities.”