WPP to review strategy following poor Q2 performance

WPP has suffered greatly in Q2, with a 5.8% decline in like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs (RLPTC) to AU$5.24 billion (£2.54 billion). RLPTC is the WPP metric that comes closest to other holdcos’ organic revenue.

Q2 total revenue was down 10.4% to AU$7.05 billion (£3.42 billion), and revenue less pass-through costs was down 12.6%. These were like-for-like declines of 4% and 5.8%, respectively. The reason the percentages differ so greatly is that in the LFL numbers, WPP strips out the effects of currency, acquisitions and disposals.

Outgoing CEO Mark Read said Q2’s slump was due to “pressures on client spending and a slower new business environment”.