Communications company WPP has announced a Q1 revenue of £3.2bn, a figure down 5% year-on-year and by 0.7% on a like-for-like (LFL) basis.

The group said its revenue less pass-through costs of £2.5bn were down 2.7% LFL.

WPP stated that its performance in the opening quarter was “consistent” with the expectations and guidance it gave at the preliminary results in February.

While it noted elevated macro uncertainty in the near-term, WPP said it would continue to expect 2025 LFL revenue less pass-through costs of flat to -2% and around a flat headline operating profit margin, excluding the impact of FX.

WPP CEO, Mark Read, said the group was continuing to make “solid progress” on its strategic priorities.

“Our financial performance in Q1 was in line with our expectations, reflecting macroeconomic challenges and the timing of new business, and we expect these factors to continue in Q2 with performance anticipated to improve in the second half,” Read said.

"While WPP is not itself directly affected by tariffs, they will impact a number of our clients as well as the broader economy. 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."

Equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, Aarin Chiekrie, added: “In a fiercely competitive advertising arena, WPP is struggling to spark fresh ideas that could kickstart its return to growth. Despite the conservative full-year guidance, which points to revenue being anywhere from flat to declining by 2%, the media giant saw like-for-like net revenue fall by 2.7% in the first quarter.

“With this weakness set to continue into the second quarter, WPP’s leaving itself a lot of work to do late in the year, and there could be room for disappointment as the year progresses.”

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