WPP has reported a 2.1% decline in third-quarter like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs, as continued weakness in its creative agencies offset a return to growth within its media and production operations.
The advertising and marketing group generated £2.41bn in revenue less pass-through costs during the three months to September, compared with £2.46bn a year earlier. On a reported basis, the measure declined 2%, while total revenue increased 0.5% to £3.27bn.
Revenue less pass-through costs is an important measure of WPP’s performance because it excludes certain services purchased from external suppliers on behalf of clients. It provides a clearer indication of the income retained from the group’s own operations than total billings alone.
Performance varied across its main businesses. WPP Media recorded like-for-like growth of 0.3%, recovering from a 2.8% decline in the second quarter, while WPP Production grew 2.5%.
WPP Creative continued to experience weaker demand, with revenue less pass-through costs falling 5.1%. The decline was steeper than the 3.5% reduction reported during the preceding quarter, although public relations returned to growth and brand and design agencies delivered mid-single-digit increases.
The results indicate a business recovering at different speeds across its operations. Media has benefited from improvements in spending by existing clients and an increasing contribution from account wins, while creative services continue to experience pressure on customer expenditure.
WPP also reported that revenue less pass-through costs among its 25 largest clients fell 2.7%, compared with a 3.2% decline in the second quarter. The group continued to experience the effects of client assignments lost during the previous year.
Performance also differed by customer industry. Consumer packaged goods, technology and digital services, and retail remained weaker, while automotive and healthcare customers delivered growth.
Regional results showed continued declines. North America fell 1.8%, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa declined 1.7%, Asia Pacific decreased 4.3%, and Latin America contracted 1.2%, all on a like-for-like basis using revenue less pass-through costs.
WPP is pursuing its Elevate28 transformation programme, intended to simplify the organisation and improve collaboration across media, creative, production, and enterprise services.
During the quarter, the company secured new assignments and retained several substantial customer relationships, including work involving Coca-Cola, DoorDash, Nestlé, Uber, and Waymo.
Its renewed Coca-Cola media arrangement covers international markets outside North America, Japan, and South Korea, which were not part of the relevant review.
Technology investment remains central to WPP’s operating strategy. The group continues to develop WPP Open, its AI-enabled marketing platform, alongside Open Intelligence, which combines information from external data partners with its commercial services.
During the quarter, WPP added 48 data partners to Open Intelligence, extended its technology relationship with Kyndryl, and opened a production facility in East London. It also appointed Tyler Turnbull as chief executive of WPP Creative and Adam Gerhart as global chief client officer.
Those investments are being made alongside cost-reduction measures and consideration of potential asset disposals. The company expects to maintain a full-year headline operating margin of between 12% and 13%, while allowing for increased expenditure associated with restructuring and growth initiatives.
WPP continues to forecast a low to mid-single-digit decline in second-half like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs, with the fourth quarter expected to perform towards the better end of that range.
For the first nine months of 2026, total revenue reached £9.65bn, down 2.8% on a reported basis. Revenue less pass-through costs was £7.16bn, a decline of 3.9% like-for-like.
Adjusted operating cash flow before working capital movements is expected to reach £800m to £900m for the full year. Excluding anticipated restructuring costs, the company expects £1bn to £1.1bn.
Chief executive Cindy Rose is overseeing the transformation programme, with WPP targeting a return to growth in 2027. The latest quarterly performance shows recovery in media and production, while its larger creative operations and all four geographic regions continue to record declining underlying revenue.
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