WPP's shares experienced a significant jump, rising over 20%, following the announcement of a comprehensive strategic overhaul, dubbed "Elevate28," by new CEO Cindy Rose. This plan aims to achieve £500 million in annual cost savings by 2028, primarily through eliminating duplication, simplifying the organizational structure, creating shared services for finance and HR, and optimizing its real estate portfolio. The savings are slated for reinvestment into high-growth areas, particularly its nascent artificial intelligence platform, WPP Open.
The restructuring involves consolidating its well-known creative agencies, such as Ogilvy and AKQA, under a new unified structure called "WPP Creative," which will operate with a single budget. This move follows an earlier rebranding of its media buying arm, GroupM, to WPP Media in May. Despite the positive market reaction to the restructuring news, WPP's operating profit plunged by 71% to £382 million for the 12 months ending January 2026, and revenue dropped by 8.1%, with the company having issued two profit warnings in the preceding year. The company also more than halved its dividend to shore up its balance sheet.
While the turnaround is in its early stages, WPP reported some progress, with its CEO stating they are "on track" and encouraged by client and employee responses. The company aims for the multi-year initiative to transform it from a holding company to a "single company" model, realigning around four core service areas: creative, production, media, and enterprise solutions, and four global regions. WPP Media, however, continued to face challenges, recording an 8.5% decline in like-for-like revenue in Q1, attributed to prior account losses and a slower ramp-up of new business.
