Form 6-K - Report of foreign issuer [Rules 13a-16 and 15d-16]

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

__________________________

FORM 6-K

__________________________

Report of Foreign Private Issuer

Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16

under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the Month of August 2024

Commission File Number: 001-38303

__________________________

WPP plc

(Translation of registrant’s name into English)

__________________________

Sea Containers, 18 Upper Ground, London, United Kingdom, SE1 9GL

(Address of principal executive offices)

__________________________

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:

Form 20-F x Form 40-F o

Explanatory Note

WPP plc (“the Company”) and certain of its subsidiaries, including WPP Finance 2010, WPP 2005 Limited and WPP Jubilee Limited, may from time to time file registration statements for the registration of securities that may from time to time be offered by WPP Finance 2010 or other subsidiaries of the Company with guarantees of WPP plc, WPP 2005 Limited and WPP Jubilee Limited and, to the extent so indicated in an applicable prospectus supplement or otherwise established following the offer and sale of a series of debt securities, guarantees of other entities. The Company is furnishing this report on Form 6-K for the purpose of presenting its results for the six months ended 30 June 2024 in a format that can be incorporated by reference into any such registration statement.

Forward-Looking Statements

In connection with the provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the ‘Reform Act’), the Company may include forward-looking statements (as defined in the Reform Act) in oral or written public statements issued by or on behalf of the Company. These forward-looking statements may include, among other things, plans, objectives, beliefs, intentions, strategies, projections and anticipated future economic performance based on assumptions and the like that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They use words such as ‘aim’, ‘anticipate’, ‘believe’, ‘estimate’, ‘expect’, ‘forecast’, ‘guidance’, ‘intend’, ‘may’, ‘will’, ‘should’, ‘potential’, ‘possible’, ‘predict’, ‘project’, ‘plan’, ‘target’, and other words and similar references to future periods but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. As such, all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances that are beyond the control of the Company. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made, as a prediction of actual results or otherwise. Important factors which may cause actual results to differ include but are not limited to: the impact of epidemics or pandemics including restrictions on businesses, social activities and travel; the unanticipated loss of a material client or key personnel; delays or reductions in client advertising budgets; shifts in industry rates of compensation; regulatory compliance costs or litigation; changes in competitive factors in the industries in which we operate and demand for our products and services; changes in client advertising, marketing and corporate communications requirements; our inability to realise the future anticipated benefits of acquisitions; failure to realise our assumptions regarding goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets; natural disasters or acts of terrorism; the Company’s ability to attract new clients; the economic and geopolitical impact of the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza; the risk of global economic downturn; slower growth, increasing interest rates and high and sustained inflation; supply chain issues affecting the distribution of our clients' products; technological changes and risks to the security of IT and operational infrastructure, systems, data and information resulting from increased threat of cyber and other attacks; effectively managing the risks, challenges and efficiencies presented by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI technologies and partnerships in our business; risks related to our environmental, social, and governance goals and initiatives, including impacts from regulators and other stakeholders, and the impact of factors outside of our control on such goals and initiatives; the Company’s exposure to changes in the values of other major currencies (because a substantial portion of its revenues are derived and costs incurred outside of the UK); and the overall level of economic activity in the Company’s major markets (which varies depending on, among other things, regional, national and international political and economic conditions and government regulations in the world’s advertising markets). In addition, you should consider the risks described in Item 3D, captioned “Risk Factors”, in the company’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F, which could also cause actual results to differ from forward-looking information. In light of these and other uncertainties, the forward-looking statements included in this document should not be regarded as a representation by the Company that the Company’s plans and objectives will be achieved. Neither the Company, nor any of its directors, officers or employees, provides any representation, assurance or guarantee that the occurrence of any events anticipated, expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements will actually occur. Other than in accordance with its legal or regulatory obligations (including under the Market Abuse Regulation, the UK Listing Rules and Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority), the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Any forward-looking statements made by the or on behalf of the Company speak only as of the date they are made and are based upon the knowledge and information available to the Directors at the time.

EXHIBIT INDEX


Exhibit No.	Description
1	Operating and Financial Review for the period ended 30 June 2024
2	Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements of WPP plc
	(i)	Unaudited condensed consolidated interim income statement for the six months ended 30 June 2024 and 2023
	(ii)	Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of comprehensive income for the six months ended 30 June 2024 and 2023
	(iii)	Unaudited condensed consolidated interim cash flow statement for the six months ended 30 June 2024 and 2023
	(iv)	Unaudited condensed consolidated interim balance sheet as at 30 June 2024 and 31 December 2023
	(v)	Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of changes in equity for the six months ended 30 June 2024 and 2023
	(vi)	Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements
101.INS	Inline XBRL Instance Document*
101.SCH	Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Linkbase Document*
101.CAL	Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document*
101.DEF	Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document*
101.LAB	Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document*
101.PRE	Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document*
104	Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)*

* Filed herewith

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.


	WPP PLC
	(Registrant)

Date: 7 August 2024	By:	/s/ Balbir Kelly-Bisla
		Balbir Kelly-Bisla
		Company Secretary

Exhibit 1

Operating and Financial Review for the period ended 30 June 2024

Six months ended June 2024 compared with six months ended June 2023

Certain Non-GAAP measures included in this business overview and in the operating and financial review have been derived from amounts calculated in accordance with IFRS but are not themselves IFRS measures. They should not be viewed in isolation as alternatives to the equivalent IFRS measure, rather they should be read in conjunction with the equivalent IFRS measure. These and other operational metrics include constant currency, like-for-like, headline operating profit, headline PBIT (Profit Before Interest and Taxation), headline PBT (Profit Before Taxation), billings and estimated net new business/billings, adjusted free cash flow, adjusted net debt and average adjusted net debt, share of profit before interest and taxation of associates, share of adjusting items of associates, share of interest and non-controlling interests of associates, and share of taxation of associates which we define, explain the use of and reconcile to the nearest IFRS measures. Refer to the Non-GAAP information section of Exhibit 1 of this Form 6-K.

Management believes that these measures are both useful and necessary to present herein because they are used by management for internal performance analyses; the presentation of these measures facilitates comparability with other companies, although management’s measures may not be calculated in the same way as similarly titled measures reported by other companies; and these measures are useful in connection with discussions with the investment community.

In the calculation of headline profit measures, judgement is required by management in determining which revenues and costs are considered to be significant, non-recurring or volatile items that are to be excluded.

The exclusion of certain adjusting items may result in headline operating profit measures being materially higher or lower than reported profit measures, for example, when significant impairments or restructuring charges are excluded but the related benefits are included, headline profit measures will be higher. Headline measures should not be considered in isolation as they provide additional information to aid the understanding of the Group’s financial performance.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the terms "Company", "Group" and Registrant" as used herein shall also mean WPP.

First half overview

Introduction

At our Capital Markets Day earlier this year we set out our strategy to build on and improve the competitiveness of WPP’s offer. We are making progress against each of our strategic objectives, particularly our continued investment in AI, the creation of VML and Burson, and the simplification of GroupM. We are strengthening our offer for clients while building a more efficient company.

Our second quarter performance delivered sequential improvement in net sales with continued growth in GroupM, Ogilvy and Hogarth and sequential improvement at Burson, VML and in our Specialist Agencies. Importantly, we also saw North America return to growth in the second quarter. That said, we have seen pressure in China and in our project-related businesses which, together with an uncertain macro environment, has led us to moderate our expectations for the full-year.

Entering into an agreement to sell our stake in FGS Global is an excellent outcome less than four years after its creation from three separate businesses within WPP. The sale is expected to allow us to focus and invest in our core creative transformation offer while significantly strengthening our financial position.

As a team, our priority continues to be improving our competitiveness by delivering a modern, global, creative and integrated offer for our clients. The steps we have taken since January to integrate our offer, bring in new talent and invest in AI represent strong progress towards delivering on our medium-term financial targets and to shareholders.

Performance and progress

Revenue in the first half 2024 was £7.2 billion, up 0.1% from £7.2 billion in the first half of 2023, and up 2.6% like-for-like.

At our Capital Markets Day in January 2024 we announced the next phase of our strategy – ‘Innovating to Lead’ – to improve our competitive performance, embrace the opportunities of AI, data and technology and drive financial returns; and we have continued to make strong progress against each of our four strategic pillars.

Lead through AI, data and technology

It’s clear that AI looks poised to fundamentally change the way in which our clients reach consumers, the way in which we deliver and produce work and the way in which we operate as a company. While it is undoubtedly early days in the application of AI to marketing, we can see enough already to know that its impact looks to be significant.

At our Capital Markets Day, we laid out our plans to embrace AI and invest in the technology and data that is required. WPP Open, our intelligent marketing operating system powered by AI, is a critical component of our strategy, enabling us to use AI in how we work. But it is also important to understand that this is only one part of our strategy. We also need to train and upskill our teams, engage with our clients and create new, AI-driven experiences.

We have continued to invest in WPP Open as part of our annual investment of £250 million in AI-driven technology. We have developed new functionality and integrated new AI models and as a result, have seen growing adoption and usage across WPP and by our clients.

Since the start of the year, we are seeing monthly active users up 74%, LLM usage up 177% and image generation up 241%. We are also seeing growing adoption by clients with key clients using the platform including Google, IBM, L'Oréal, LVMH, Nestlé, and The Coca-Cola Company. In particular, clients are seeing significant value in using WPP Open to streamline how they work with WPP, using the workflow elements of the platform to standardise processes.

Functionality and Model Integration

WPP Open is a single marketing operating system that powers all of WPP’s businesses. The core Studios – Creative, Production, Media, Experience, Commerce and PR – are designed to support key functional areas with AI-powered applications in a way that allows for integrated ways of working across the company.

WPP Open’s Creative Studio gained further functionality to support our strategy and creative teams. In May, we announced a collaboration to integrate Anthropic’s Claude AI model family using Amazon Bedrock, a fully managed service from Amazon Web Services (‘AWS’), and in June, WPP and IBM announced WPP Open B2B, powered by watsonx, bringing together IBM’s generative AI technology and consulting capabilities with WPP’s industry expertise to deliver higher conversion rates and lower costs for B2B marketers.

WPP Open’s Media Studio was deployed more broadly to clients in the first half with an end-to-end workflow solution accessing GroupM’s scale, and Choreograph data and technology. It enables the automation of complex media decisions, choosing from thousands of AI-powered strategies and leveraging 2.3-trillion AI-evaluated impressions to build unique audiences and activate and measure campaigns across a full range of channels.

Media Studio provides access to Choreograph’s global data graph that enables intelligent activation across more than 73 markets and 5 billion consumer profiles. That includes access to AmeriLINK, our data asset in the US, containing 10,000 attributes on more than 300 million addressable individuals, with particular strength in data on consumer health and age. We are able to further contextualise and enrich that data graph with data that we generate from planning, optimization and campaigns across GroupM.

We launched our upgraded Performance Brain™ at Google Cloud Next in April, allowing us to predict creative effectiveness before the first media impression is served, allowing clients to improve the ROI on their media and creative investments.

We also announced the integration into Media Studio of services from Incremental, a leading provider of neutral retail media solutions, incorporating their retail media forecasting, planning and measurement capabilities, and with Shalion, a retail intelligence leader, integrating their advanced retail media, digital shelf analytics, and unified market intelligence across 18 markets and more than 5,000 retailer and category combinations.

In June, we launched Production Studio, an AI-enabled, end-to-end production application. Production Studio is based on our multi-year partnership with NVIDIA, allowing us to develop industry-first solutions that provide the brand and product fidelity and the design control needed in developing advertising content.

In July, at SIGGRAPH, the annual computer graphics conference, we unveiled the next phase of our partnership with NVIDIA – using new NVIDIA NIM microservices and Shutterstock’s 3D asset library to create brand-compliant generative 3D landscapes and worlds. The Coca-Cola Company will be one of the first of WPP’s clients to begin scaling the opportunities of generative 3D across its 100 markets. WPP has also been working with Ford to build physically accurate, real-time digital twins of its vehicles to create car configurators that customers can explore and adapt according to their needs.

Our Work with Clients

Not only is AI enabling us to innovate in how we work with clients and to produce work in new ways, it’s also allowing us to develop new ground-breaking consumer experiences for our clients. We continue to lead the way in demonstrating the power of the technology to build more relevant and personalised experiences for our clients.

Some examples include:

•Mars’ Snickers Own Goal from T&Pm: Powered by AI technology from ElevenLabs, Synclabs and Open AI, this application uses a personalised AI José Mourinho to humorously coach fans out of their “own goals”. By generating custom video responses for fans' mistakes, this campaign leverages AI to create unique, shareable content and engage fans in a new, interactive way. Integrated with WhatsApp for social sharing and co-created with agency Helo.

•Coke SoundZ for The Coca-Cola Company led by AKQA: Led by AKQA, an AI-powered instrument creating uplifting tunes from Coca-Cola's iconic sounds. This innovative auditory branding engages consumers through sound psychology, featuring both digital and physical versions. Collaborations with artists like Marshmello have amplified its impact, reinforcing Coca-Cola's leadership in innovative marketing and delivering more than 500 million impressions globally.

•Mondelēz’s Bournvita D For Dreams by Ogilvy and Wavemaker: Uses advanced AI technology to offer children personalised cricket training from legend Rahul Dravid. The AI tool tracks kids' time spent in the sun, translating it into virtual coaching sessions, and so promoting Vitamin D intake. The campaign combines AI-driven interactive experiences with the nutritional benefits of Bournvita, encouraging outdoor activity and health awareness.

Accelerate growth through the power of creative transformation

Creativity is what sets WPP apart, and when combined with AI, technology, data and the largest global media platform, we have an unparalleled integrated offer to clients.

That offer is resonating well, as reflected in growth across our largest clients. The first half of the year saw expansion in scope for many top clients, with wins including media assignments for Nestlé and Colgate-Palmolive’s decision to name WPP as its Amazon agency of record for Europe.

We continue to win industry recognition for our creative excellence. In June, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity named WPP as ‘Creative Company of the Year’ for 2024, with Ogilvy taking home ‘Creative Network of the Year’. WPP agencies collected a total of 160 Lions, including a Titanium, 6 Grand Prix, 27 Gold, 43 Silver and 83 Bronze Lions.

The Coca-Cola Company, whose global marketing partner is WPP Open X, was named ‘Creative Brand of the Year’ for the first time in its history. This follows the announcement in May that Unilever, one of WPP’s largest clients, was named ‘Creative Marketer of the Year’ for 2024 thanks in part to work from WPP agencies on its brands.

WPP's media agencies EssenceMediacom, Mindshare and Wavemaker also made a very strong showing at the festival, with GroupM ending the week as the industry’s leading media group with 90 Lions, up from 59 last year.

In addition, WPP's agencies won the most awards at this year’s Clio Health competition in June, with a total of more than 50 awards across Grand, Gold, Silver, and Bronze categories, further solidifying WPP’s position as a leader in health marketing and communications.

Build world-class, market-leading brands

We have made excellent progress towards building stronger world-class brands.

VML launched in January 2024 and, by the end of the first-half, the integration of VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson was broadly complete. VML played a key role in recent client assignment wins, including AstraZeneca, Colgate-Palmolive and Perrigo.

The new Burson agency launched in June, with the new leadership team in place globally and in most markets around the world. As a further simplification of our offer, Buchanan Communications joined Burson under the brand Burson Buchanan with the ambition to expand its offer into the United States.

The GroupM simplification initiative also progressed well in the first half. We made good progress on the structural cost actions with GroupM operating as one entity in markets around the world. As part of this, we have launched Open Media Studio, a key component of WPP Open, bringing together key media tools and simplifying our go-to-market proposition. Execution of the plan will continue through the second half with all related cost actions due to be complete in 2024.

In July, WPP announced the appointment of Brian Lesser as the new Global CEO of GroupM, succeeding Christian Juhl, who will be moving to a new role within WPP. Brian is a leading industry figure with a track record of creating addressable advertising products and technology. He previously spent 10 years with WPP joining with the acquisition of 24/7 Real Media in 2007, and most recently serving as CEO of GroupM in North America from 2015 to 2017.

In the final COMvergence report for 2023, GroupM remained the largest media planning and buying agency by some distance with leading positions in key global markets such as China, India, Japan, Germany and the UK, and an unchanged #2 position in the US.

GroupM continues to invest in retail media initiatives around the world and, of particular note, is its partnership with Tesco to create a Media and Insight Platform, powered by dunnhumby, to deliver best-in-class delivery of data-led solutions, education and innovation across all areas of retail media in the UK.

We have a strong pipeline of new business in media, and while our new business performance at GroupM in North America was below our expectations in the first half of the year, we expect that the actions that we are taking will see an improvement in our competitive performance and success rate.

Execute efficiently to drive financial returns through margin and cash

As well as the structural cost savings relating to the initiatives above, we are making good progress in our back-office efficiency programme across enterprise IT, finance, procurement and real estate.

In enterprise IT, we successfully rolled out Maconomy in certain markets in EMEA and South America in the first half. Our cloud migration continued to deliver benefits as we migrate workloads to the cloud and decommission legacy equipment and capacity.

Across IT and Finance we continue to optimise our finance shared service centres, including migrating teams from VML in North America and Brazil, and WPP HQ.

Our category-led procurement model continues to consolidate spend by sub-category to drive further savings. We are digitalising our source-to-contract processes enabling further automation as we consolidate our ERP landscape.

In real estate, our ongoing campus programme and consolidation of leases continues to deliver benefits. Several new campus openings are planned for the second half of 2024, including WPP’s third London campus.

We have also opened a new operations and delivery hub in Wuxi, Jiangsu as part of an ongoing optimisation of our cost base in China.

Review of Group results from operations

Revenue

Revenue was up 0.1% at £7.2 billion in the first half of 2024 compared to £7.2 billion in the first half of 2023. Revenue on a constant currency basis was up 3% compared with the same period last year. Net changes from acquisitions and disposals had a positive impact of 0.5% on growth, leading to a like-for-like performance, excluding the impact of currency and acquisitions, of 2.6%. In the second quarter, revenue was up 1.4% (Q1 2024: -1.4%) and like-for-like revenue was up 3.1% (Q1 2024:+2.1%).

Costs of services, general and administrative costs

Costs of services and general and administrative costs include:

Costs of services increased by 0.5% in the first half of 2024 to £6.2 billion from £6.2 billion in the first half of 2023. General and administrative costs decreased by 18.6% in the first half of 2024 to £0.6 billion million from £0.8 billion in the first half of 2023.

Operating profitability

Reported operating profit was £423 million (H1 2023: £306 million) at a reported operating profit margin of 5.9% (H1 2023: 4.2%). Reported operating profit includes restructuring costs of £153 million (H1 2023: £267 million), amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets and impairment of investments in associates of £80 million (H1 2023: £100 million, including £53 million of goodwill impairment).

The restructuring and transformation costs of £153 million relate to actions set out at the January Capital Markets Day, primarily the structural cost saving plan relating to the creation of VML and Burson and the simplification of GroupM (£72 million). These structural savings are to deliver annualised net cost savings of c.£125 million in 2025, with more than 50% of that saving now expected to be achieved in 2024 (ahead of the original plan of 40-50%) and an associated restructuring cost of c.£125 million in 2024. Also included within restructuring and transformation costs are the Group’s IT transformation projects (£47 million) and property costs associated with impairments prior to 2024 (£22 million).

Headline operating profit was £646 million (H1 2023: £666 million), at a headline operating profit margin of 11.5% (H1 2023: 11.5%), 0.1 points higher than the prior period on a constant currency basis. This reflects the decline in revenue less pass-through costs, cost inflation and investment for future growth, partially offset by continued cost discipline and restructuring initiatives.

Total headline operating costs were down 3.7%, to £4,953 million (H1 2023: £5,145 million). Staff costs (excluding incentives) of £3,837 million were down 3.3% compared to the prior period (H1 2023: £3,969 million), reflecting higher wage inflation offset by lower headcount as a result of the actions we have taken to mitigate the top-line decline in H1 and our restructuring initiatives. Incentives of £148 million were down 14.0% compared to the prior period (H1 2023: £172 million) due to phasing relating to the weighting of business performance through the year against annual incentive targets.

Establishment costs of £242 million were down 11.1% compared to the prior period (H1 2023: £272 million) driven by benefits from the campus programme and consolidation of leases. IT costs of £341 million were down 2.6%, personal costs of £103 million were down 8.0% driven by savings in travel and entertainment, and other operating expenses of £282 million were up 4.4% driven by higher commercial costs.

On a like-for-like basis, the average number of people in the Group in the first half was 113,000 compared to 115,000 in the first half of 2023. The total number of people as at 30 June 2024 was 111,000 compared to 114,000 as at 30 June 2023.

Headline EBITDA (including IFRS 16 depreciation) for the period was down 1.4% to £756 million (H1 2023: £767 million).

Interest and taxes

Reported net finance costs were £101 million (H1 2023: £103 million), including net income of £35 million (H1 2023: net income £25 million) relating to the revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments.

Headline net finance costs of £136 million were up 6.3% compared to the prior period (H1 2023: £128 million) primarily due to the impact of refinancing bonds at higher rates.

The reported effective tax rate was 27.2% (H1 2023: 26.9%). The reported effective tax rate is lower than the headline effective tax rate due to gains on disposal of investments and subsidiaries not being taxable.

The headline effective tax rate (based on headline profit before tax) was 28.0% (H1 2023: 27.0%). The increase in the headline effective tax rate is driven by changes in tax rates or tax bases in the markets in which we operate. Given the Group’s geographic mix of profits and the changing international tax environment, the tax rate is expected to increase over the next few years.

Earnings and dividend

Reported diluted EPS was 18.8p (H1 2023: 10.3p), an increase of 82.5% due to higher reported operating profit.

Headline diluted EPS was 30.9p (H1 2023 H1: 33.1p), a decrease of 6.6% due to lower headline operating profit (which includes an adverse FX impact which reduced headline diluted EPS by 1.5 pence) higher headline net finance costs and a higher headline effective tax rate.

For 2024, the Board is declaring an interim dividend of 15.0p (2023: 15.0p). The record date for the interim dividend is 11 October 2024, and the dividend will be payable on 1 November 2024.

Reportable segments review

The following tables give details of revenue and revenue less pass-through costs by reportable segment, as well as applicable percentage changes from the corresponding prior year periods, for the second quarter and first half of 2024. Headline operating profit and headline operating profit margin by reportable segment for the first half of 2024 are also provided below.

Revenue analysis


	Three months ended 30 June 2024	Reported change three months ended 30 June 2024		Like-for-like change three months ended 30 June 2024		Six months ended 30 June 2024	Reported change six months ended 30 June 2024		Like-for-like change six months ended 30 June 2024
	£m	%		%		£m	%		%
Global Integrated Agencies1	3,238	1.5	%	3.3	%	6,117	0.6	%	3.2	%
Public Relations	311	(0.1)	%	1.1	%	601	(2.8)	%	(0.9)	%
Specialist Agencies1	266	1.9	%	3.0	%	509	(2.3)	%	(0.5)	%
Total Group	3,815	1.4%		3.1	%	7,227	0.1	%	2.6	%

Note

1 Prior year figures have been re-presented to reflect the reallocation of a number of businesses between Global Integrated Agencies and Specialist Agencies. The impact of the re-presentation is not material.

Revenue less pass-through costs1 analysis


	Three months ended 30 June 2024	Reported change three months ended 30 June 2024		Like-for-like change three months ended 30 June 2024		Six months ended 30 June 2024	Reported change six months ended 30 June 2024		Like-for-like change six months ended 30 June 2024
	£m	%		%		£m	%		%
Global Integrated Agencies2	2,392	(2.6)	%	(0.6)	%	4,595	(3.5)	%	(0.7)	%
Public Relations	293	0.1	%	1.5	%	568	(2.7)	%	(0.9)	%
Specialist Agencies2	227	(3.2)	%	(2.0)	%	436	(6.6)	%	(4.7)	%

Note

1Revenue less pass-through costs is revenue less media and other pass-through costs. Pass-through costs comprise fees paid to external suppliers where they are engaged to perform part or all of a specific project and are charged directly to clients, predominantly media costs. This includes the cost of media where the Group is buying digital media for its own account on a transparent opt-in basis and, as a result, the subsequent media pass-through costs have to be accounted for as revenue, as well as billings. See note 2 to the Company's unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements, which appears in Exhibit 2, for more details of the pass-through costs.

2 Prior year figures have been re-presented to reflect the reallocation of a number of businesses between Global Integrated Agencies and Specialist Agencies. The impact of the re-presentation is not material.

Headline operating profit analysis


	Headline operating profit six months ended 30 June 2024	Headline operating profit margin1 six months ended 30 June 2024		Headline operating profit six months ended 30 June 2023	Headline operating profit margin1 six months ended 30 June 2023
	£m	%		£m	%
Global Integrated Agencies2	551	12.0	%	550	11.6	%
Public Relations	80	14.1	%	88	15.1	%
Specialist Agencies2	15	3.4	%	28	6.0	%
Total Group	646	11.5	%	666	11.5	%

Note

1Headline operating profit margin is calculated as headline operating profit as a percentage of revenue less pass-through costs.

2Prior year figures have been re-presented to reflect the reallocation of a number of businesses between Global Integrated Agencies and Specialist Agencies. The impact of the re-presentation is not material.

Global Integrated Agencies: GroupM, our media planning and buying business, grew 1.9% in the first half of 2024 (Q2: +1.4%), offset by a 2.8% decline at other Global Integrated Agencies (Q2: -2.4%).

GroupM growth continues to be impacted by 2023 client assignment losses, which have been partially offset by wins including Nestlé. Q2 growth of 1.4% slowed sequentially from 2.4% in Q1 as an acceleration to mid-single digit growth in the US was more than offset by weaker second quarter trends in Germany, which was lapping a strong quarter last year, and in China which has been impacted by client losses and a challenging macro environment.

Ogilvy’s performance benefited from recent new business wins, including Verizon, good growth in CPG clients and stabilisation of spending by technology clients in Q2. Hogarth grew well, benefiting from new business wins and growing demand for its technology and AI-driven capabilities as clients seek to produce more personalised and addressable content. VML continued to be impacted by the loss of Pfizer creative assignments, but saw sequential improvement in Q2, benefiting from recent new business wins and stabilisation of spending by technology clients. AKQA was impacted by delays in project-related spend.

Public Relations: FGS Global continued to grow strongly in H1 2024, offset by declines at Burson due to the loss of Pfizer assignments and the impact of macroeconomic uncertainty on some areas of client spending.

Specialist Agencies: CMI Media Group, our specialist healthcare media planning and buying agency, grew well, offset by declines at Landor and Design Bridge and Partners. Our smaller specialist agencies continued to be adversely affected by more cautious client spending and delays in project-based spending.

Regional review

The following tables give details of revenue and revenue less pass-through costs by region, as well as applicable percentage changes from the corresponding prior year periods, for the second quarter and first half of 2024. Headline operating profit by region is provided in note 3 of Exhibit 2.

Revenue analysis


	Three months ended 30 June 2024	Reported change three months ended 30 June 2024		Like-for-like change three months ended 30 June 2024		Six months ended 30 June 2024	Reported change six months ended 30 June 2024		Like-for-like change six months ended 30 June 2024
	£m	%		%		£m	%		%
N. America	1,467	6.5	%	6.2	%	2,781	1.3	%	2.5	%
United Kingdom	544	(4.1)	%	(4.4)	%	1,058	(0.7)	%	(1.2)	%
W. Cont. Europe	762	(2.4)	%	0.1	%	1,458	(1.3)	%	1.9	%
AP, LA, AME, CEE1	1,042	0.5	%	5.1	%	1,930	(0.3)	%	5.5	%
Total Group	3,815	1.4	%	3.1	%	7,227	0.1	%	2.6	%

Note

1Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe.

Revenue less pass-through costs1 analysis


	Three months ended 30 June 2024	Reported change three months ended 30 June 2024	Like-for-like change three months ended 30 June 2024		Six months ended 30 June 2024	Reported change six months ended 30 June 2024		Like-for-like change six months ended 30 June 2024
	£m	%	%		£m	%		%
N. America	1,152	1.5%	2.0	%	2,207	(3.4)	%	(1.6)	%
United Kingdom	396	(5.4)%	(5.3)	%	779	(2.1)	%	(2.6)	%
W. Cont. Europe	608	(2.1)%	0.3	%	1,164	(1.3)	%	1.7	%
AP, LA, AME, CEE2	756	(6.3)%	(2.2)	%	1,449	(6.6)	%	(1.4)	%

Notes

2Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe.

North America declined by 1.6% in H1 2024 reflecting lower revenues from technology clients and in the retail and healthcare sectors reflecting 2023 client losses. This was partially offset by growth in CPG, telecommunications and automotive. Within the half, Q2 growth of 2.0% showed a marked sequential improvement (Q1 decline of 5.2%) driven by GroupM and as technology client spend began to stabilise against easier comparisons.

United Kingdom declined 2.6% in H1 reflecting a strong comparator (H1 2023: +8.2%). Ogilvy, GroupM and Hogarth grew in H1 offset by declines in other agencies due to delays in project-based spending.

In Western Continental Europe, Germany declined 4.8% reflecting the impact of macroeconomic pressures and delays to project-related spend, offset by good growth in Spain and France as new clients were onboarded.

The Rest of World (Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe) declined in H1 2024 as good growth in India (+8.1%) was offset by a decline of 20.3% in China on client assignment losses and persistent macroeconomic pressures impacting both our media and creative businesses.

We appointed a new President of WPP China in February who is working closely with the local CEOs of each of our agencies, including the new senior leadership team at GroupM, to bring together the best of our talent and capabilities in China and build on our leading market position. While we expect performance to continue to be challenging in the second half of 2024, we are confident these actions will strengthen our business in what is an important strategic market for WPP.

Cash Flow and Balance Sheet

The Group's unaudited condensed consolidated interim cash flow statement, balance sheet and notes as at 30 June 2024 are provided in Exhibit 2.

Net cash outflow from operating activities was £540 million in the first half of 2024, compared to a cash outflow of £445 million in the first half of 2023.

In the first half of 2024, operating profit was £423 million, depreciation and amortisation was £262 million, impairment charges included within adjusting items were £4 million, non-cash share-based incentive charges were £56 million, goodwill impairment was £nil, impairment of investments in associates were £23 million, earnout payments were £25 million, working capital and provisions outflow was £1,056 million, net interest paid was £49 million, tax paid was £168 million, lease liabilities (including interest) paid were £187 million, capital expenditure was £107 million and other net cash outflows were £21 million. Adjusted free cash flow was, therefore, an outflow of £845 million.

Adjusted operating cash outflow was £587 million (H1 2023: £482 million). The main driver of the larger cash outflow year on year was an increase in non headline cash costs to £144 million (H1 2023: £114 million), mainly driven by costs related to the previously announced restructuring plan, including the creation of VML and Burson and the simplification of GroupM. The working capital outflow was £1,056 million, in line with the prior period ((H1 2023: £1,044 million) and reflects the usual seasonality of client activity and timing of payments.

Adjusted free cash outflow was £845 million, higher than prior period (H1 2023: £755 million) due to higher adjusted operating cash flow and higher earnout payments, offset by lower dividends to minorities. Adjusted net cash outflow was £898 million was lower than the prior period (H1 2023: £981 million) due to lower net acquisition payments.

At 30 June 2024, the Group had total equity of £3,958 million (31 December 2023: £3,833 million).

Non-current assets of £12,438 million decreased by £241 million (31 December 2023: £12,679 million) primarily driven by the amortisation of intangible assets and right-of-use assets.

Current assets of £13,375 million decreased by £569 million (31 December 2023: £13,944 million). The decrease principally relates to trade and other receivables which decreased by £478 million to £7,982 million.

Current liabilities of £14,988 million decreased by £1,317 million (31 December 2023: £16,305 million). The decrease principally relates to trade and other payables which decreased by £1,411 million, partially offset by a net increase in bank overdrafts and bonds of £255 million.

The decrease in both trade and other receivables and trade and other payables is primarily due to the seasonality of client activity and timing of payments, with the relative movement from December consistent with prior years.

Non-current liabilities of £6,867 million (31 December 2023: £6,485 million) increased by £382 million, primarily due to a £523 million increase in bonds to £4,298 million, relating to the issuance of two new bonds in March 2024 (€600 million and €650 million) offset by a €500 million bond due in March 2025 classified within current liabilities as at 30 June 2024 (31 December 2023: non-current).

Recognised within total equity, other comprehensive loss of £62 million (H1 2023: £210 million) for the period includes a £37 million loss (H1 2023: £285 million) for foreign exchange differences on translation of foreign operations, and an £18 million loss (H1 2023: gain of £78 million) on the Group’s net investment hedges.

Summarised financial information about Guarantors and Issuers of Guaranteed Securities

As at 30 June 2024, WPP Finance 2010 had in issue $93 million ($28 million was repaid in 2018 and $179 million was repaid in 2019 from the $300 million initially issued) of 5.125% bonds due September 2042 with WPP plc as parent guarantor and WPP Air 1, WPP 2008 Limited, WPP 2005 Limited, WPP 2012 Limited and WPP Jubilee Limited as subsidiary guarantors.

In the event that WPP Finance 2010 fails to pay the holders of the securities, thereby requiring WPP plc, WPP Air 1, WPP 2008 Limited, WPP 2005 Limited, WPP 2012 Limited or WPP Jubilee Limited to make payment pursuant to the terms of their full and unconditional, and joint and several guarantee of those securities, there is no impediment to WPP plc, WPP Air 1, WPP 2008 Limited, WPP 2005 Limited, WPP 2012 Limited or WPP Jubilee Limited obtaining reimbursement for any such payments from WPP Finance 2010.

Summarised income statement information for WPP Finance 2010 (issuer), WPP plc and Subsidiary Guarantors


	For the six months ended 30 June 2024	For the year ended 31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Revenue	—	—
Costs of services	—	—
Gross profit	—	—
Administrative income due from non-guarantors	184	163
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	—	32
Finance and investment income from non-guarantors	93	126
Finance costs to non-guarantors	(365)	(1,410)
Loss for the period	(329)	(1,383)

Summarised balance sheet information for WPP Finance 2010 (issuer), WPP plc and Subsidiary Guarantors


	At 30 June 2024	At 31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Non-current assets (excluding amounts due from Non-Guarantors)	226	221

Current assets (excluding amounts due from Non-Guarantors)	593	640
Current liabilities (excluding amounts due to Non-Guarantors)	(701)	(729)
Non-Current liabilities (excluding amounts due to Non-Guarantors)	(347)	(339)
Payables due to Non-Guarantors1	(9,381)	(9,184)

Note

1 This balance includes amounts due from and amounts due to non-guarantors and is being presented on a net basis for presentational purposes.

As at 30 June 2024, WPP Finance 2010 had in issue $750 million of 3.750% bonds due September 2024 and $220 million ($50 million was repaid in 2018 and $230 million was repaid in 2019 from the $500 million initially issued) of 5.625% bonds due November 2043, with WPP plc as parent guarantor and WPP Jubilee Limited and WPP 2005 Limited as subsidiary guarantors.

In the event that WPP Finance 2010 fails to pay the holders of the securities, thereby requiring WPP plc, WPP Jubilee Limited or WPP 2005 Limited to make payment pursuant to the terms of their full and unconditional, and joint and several guarantee of those securities, there is no impediment to WPP plc, WPP Jubilee Limited or WPP 2005 Limited obtaining reimbursement for any such payments from WPP Finance 2010.

Summarised income statement information for WPP Finance 2010 (issuer), WPP plc and Subsidiary Guarantors


	For the six months ended 30 June 2024	For the year ended 31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Revenue	—	—
Costs of services	—	—
Gross profit	—	—
Administrative income due from non-guarantors	184	163
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	—	32
Finance and investment income from non-guarantors	93	126
Finance costs to non-guarantors	(365)	(1,410)
Loss for the period	(329)	(1,383)

Summarised balance sheet information for WPP Finance 2010 (issuer), WPP plc and Subsidiary Guarantors


	At 30 June 2024	At 31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Non-current assets (excluding amounts due from Non-Guarantors)	226	221

Current assets (excluding amounts due from Non-Guarantors)	593	640
Current liabilities (excluding amounts due to Non-Guarantors)	(701)	(729)
Non-Current liabilities (excluding amounts due to Non-Guarantors)	(347)	(339)
Payables due to Non-Guarantors1	(9,381)	(9,187)

Note

1 This balance includes amounts due from and amounts due to non-guarantors and is being presented on a net basis for presentational purposes.

The issuer and guarantors of the bonds (the issuer and subsidiary guarantors are 100% owned by WPP plc) are consolidated subsidiaries of WPP plc and are each subject to the reporting requirements under section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The summarised financial information for WPP Finance 2010 and the guarantors is presented on a combined basis with intercompany balances and transactions between the entities in the issuer and guarantors group eliminated. The Group has applied the recognition and measurement principles of IFRS as issued by the IASB in preparing the summarised financial information and is intended to provide investors with meaningful financial information, and is provided pursuant to Rule 13-01 of Regulation S-X which allows for alternative financial disclosures or narrative disclosures in lieu of the separate financial statements of WPP Finance 2010 and the guarantors. The financial information presented is that of the issuers and guarantors of the guaranteed security, and the financial information of non-issuer and non-guarantor subsidiaries has been excluded.

NON-GAAP INFORMATION

As introduced on page 1, the following are the Group’s Non-GAAP performance measures.

Constant currency

The condensed consolidated interim financial statements are presented in pounds sterling. However, the Group’s significant international operations give rise to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. To neutralise foreign exchange impact and illustrate the underlying change in revenue, profit, and other relevant financial statement line items from one year to the next, the Group has adopted the practice of discussing results in both reportable currency (local currency results translated into pounds sterling at the prevailing foreign exchange rate) and constant currency.

The Group uses US dollar-based, constant currency models to measure performance across all jurisdictions. These are calculated by applying budgeted 2024 exchange rates to local currency reported results for the current and prior year which excludes any variances attributable to foreign exchange rate movements.

Like-for-like

Management believes that discussing like-for-like contributes to the understanding of the Group’s performance and trends because it allows for meaningful comparisons of the current period to that of prior periods.

Like-for-like comparisons are calculated as follows: current year, constant currency actual results (which include acquisitions from the relevant date of completion) are compared with prior year, constant currency actual results, adjusted to include the results of acquisitions and disposals.

The following table reconciles reported revenue growth for the three month and six month periods ended 30 June 2024 and 2023, to like-for-like revenue growth for the same periods.


	Three months ended 30 June		Six months ended 30 June
	Revenue		Revenue
	£m	%	£m	%
2023 Reported	3,762		7,221
Impact of exchange rate changes	(75)	(2.0)	(218)	(3.0)
Impact of acquisitions and disposals	11	0.3	37	0.5
Like-for-like growth	117	3.1	187	2.6
2024 Reported	3,815	1.4	7,227	0.1

The Group presents alternative performance measures, including headline operating profit, headline operating profit margin, headline profit before interest and tax, headline profit before tax, headline earnings, headline basic and diluted EPS, headline EBITDA, revenue less pass-through costs, adjusted net debt and average adjusted net debt, adjusted operating cash flow, adjusted free cash flow and adjusted net cash flow. They are used by management for internal performance analyses. The presentation of these measures facilitates comparability with other companies, although management’s measures may not be calculated in the same way as similarly titled measures reported by other companies, and these measures are useful in connection with discussions with the investment community.

In the calculation of headline profit, judgement is required by management in determining which costs are considered to be large, unusual and non-recurring to be excluded.

The exclusion of certain adjusting items may result in headline earnings being materially higher or lower than reported earnings, for example when significant impairments or restructuring charges are excluded but the related benefits are included headline earnings will be higher. Headline measures should not be considered in isolation as they provide additional information to aid the understanding of the Group’s financial performance.

Headline operating profit

Headline operating profit is one of the measures that management uses to assess the performance of the business.

Headline operating profit is calculated as operating profit before gains/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries, gains/losses on disposal of property, impairment of investments in associates, goodwill impairment, amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets, restructuring and transformation costs, property-related restructuring costs, and litigation settlement.

Adjustments to operating profit described above are included in costs of services and general administrative costs as provided in note 2 of the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements, which appears in Exhibit 2, and are components of operating profit.

A tabular reconciliation of profit before taxation to headline operating profit is provided in note 11 of the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements of the Company, which appears in Exhibit 2.

Headline EBITDA

Headline EBITDA is calculated as profit before finance income/costs and revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments, taxation, gains/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries, gains/losses on disposal of property, impairment of investments in associates, goodwill impairment, amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets, amortisation of other intangibles, depreciation of property, plant and equipment, depreciation of right-of-use assets, restructuring and transformation costs, property-related restructuring costs, litigation settlement, and share of adjusting and other items for associates.

Headline operating profit

Headline operating profit is one of the measures that management uses to assess the performance of the business.

Adjusted net debt and average adjusted net debt

Average adjusted net debt is calculated as the average monthly net borrowings of the Group. Adjusted net debt at a period end consists of cash and short-term deposits, bank overdraft, bonds due within one year and bonds due after one year. Adjusted net debt excludes lease liabilities.

Average adjusted net debt to headline EBITDA ratio:


	30 June 2024	31 December 2023	30 June 2023
	£m	£m	£m
Average adjusted net debt (12 month rolling)	(3,619)	(3,620)	(3,379)
Headline EBITDA	1,966	1,976	2,026
Average adjusted net debt to headline EBITDA ratio	1.84	1.83	1.68

The average adjusted net debt and headline EBITDA amounts used in the average adjusted net debt to headline EBITDA ratio calculation above are for the 12 months ended30 June 2024, 31 December 2023 and 30 June 2023 respectively, and exclude the impact of IFRS 16.

Adjusted net debt and average adjusted net debt (12-month rolling) are comprised of the following:


	30 June 2024		31 December 2023	30 June 2023
	£m		£m	£m
Cash and short-term deposits	2,128		2,218	1,963
Bank overdrafts and bonds due within one year	(1,201)		(946)	(1,093)
Bonds due after one year	(4,298)		(3,775)	(4,338)
Adjusted net debt	(3,371)		(2,503)	(3,468)
Average adjusted net debt (12 month rolling)	(3,619)	(362)	(3,620)	(3,379)

Adjusted net debt excludes lease liabilities. Average adjusted net debt is calculated as the average monthly net borrowings of the Group. Average adjusted net debt for 30 June 2024 and 30 June 2023 represents the average for the 12 month periods ended 30 June 2024 and 30 June 2023 respectively. Average adjusted net debt for 31 December 2023 represents the average for the twelve month period ended 31 December 2023.

Reconciliation of profit before taxation to headline PBT and headline earnings:


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Profit before taxation	338	204
Goodwill impairment	—	53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Impairment of investments in associates	23	11
Restructuring and transformation costs	131	87
Property-related restructuring costs	22	180
(Gains)/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries	(8)	3
Gains on disposal of property	(2)	—
Litigation settlement	—	(10)
Share of adjusting and other items for associates	(1)	7
Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments	(35)	(25)
Headline PBT	525	546
Headline tax charge	(146)	(148)
Non-controlling interests	(41)	(37)
Headline earnings	338	361

Headline PBT and headline earnings are metrics that management use to assess the performance of the business.

Headline earnings per share:

The calculation of basic EPS is as follows:


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
Earnings (£ million)	205	112
Weighted average shares used in basic EPS calculation (million)	1,075	1,071
EPS	19.1p	10.5p

As compared to the calculation of basic headline EPS:


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Headline PBT	525	546
Headline tax charge	(146)	(148)
Non-controlling interests	(41)	(37)
Headline earnings	338	361
Weighted average shares used in basic EPS calculation (million)	1,075	1,071
Headline EPS	31.4p	33.7p

The calculation of diluted EPS is as follows:


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
Earnings (£ million)	205	112
Weighted average shares used in diluted EPS calculation (million)	1,092	1,091

Diluted EPS	18.8p	10.3p

As compared to the calculation of diluted headline EPS:


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Headline PBT	525	546
Headline tax charge	(146)	(148)
Non-controlling interests	(41)	(37)
Diluted headline earnings	338	361
Weighted average shares used in diluted EPS calculation (million)	1,092	1,091

Diluted headline EPS	30.9p	33.1p

Headline tax charge:

Headline tax charge is calculated as taxation excluding tax/deferred tax relating to restructuring and transformation costs and property-related costs, litigation settlement, the deferred tax impact of the amortisation of acquisition related intangible assets and liabilities, and deferred tax relating to investments in associates.


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Headline PBT	525	546
Tax charge	92	55
Tax credit relating to restructuring and transformation costs and property-related costs	36	89
Tax credit relating to litigation settlement	—	(3)
Deferred tax impact of the amortisation of acquisition related intangible assets and liabilities	8	11
Deferred tax relating to investments in associates	10	(4)
Headline tax charge	146	148
Headline tax rate	28.0%	27.0%

The headline tax rate as a percentage of headline PBT (that includes the share of headline results of associates) is 28.0% (2023: 27.0%).

Headline PBIT

Headline PBIT is one of the measures that management uses to assess the performance of the business.

Headline PBIT is calculated as Profit before net finance costs, taxation, gains/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries, gains/losses on disposal of property, impairment of investments in associates, goodwill impairment, amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets, restructuring and transformation costs, property-related restructuring costs, litigation settlement and share of adjusting and other items for associates.

A tabular reconciliation of profit before interest and taxation to headline PBIT is shown below.


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Profit before taxation	338	204
Finance and investment income	(74)	(103)
Finance costs	210	231
Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments	(35)	(25)
Profit before interest and taxation	439	307
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Goodwill impairment	—	53
(Gains)/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries	(8)	3
Gains on disposal of property	(2)	—
Impairment of investments in associates	23	11
Litigation settlement	—	(10)
Restructuring and transformation costs	131	87
Property related costs	22	180
Share of adjusting items of associates	(1)	7
Headline PBIT	661	674

Headline PBT

Headline PBT is one of the measures that management uses to assess the performance of the business.

Headline PBT is calculated as profit before taxation, gains/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries, gains/losses on disposal of property, impairment of investments in associates, goodwill impairment, amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets, restructuring and transformation costs, property-related restructuring costs, litigation settlement, share of adjusting and other items for associates, and revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments.

A tabular reconciliation of profit before taxation to headline PBT is shown below.


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Profit before taxation	338	204
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Goodwill impairment	—	53
(Gains)/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries	(8)	3
Gains on disposal of property	(2)	—
Impairment of investments in associates	23	11
Restructuring and transformation costs	131	87
Share of adjusting items of associates	(1)	7
Property related costs	22	180
Litigation settlement	—	(10)
Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments	(35)	(25)
Headline PBT	525	546

Billings and estimated net new business billings

Billings and estimated net new business billings are metrics that management uses to assess the performance of the business.

Billings comprise the gross amounts billed to clients in respect of commission-based/fee-based income together with the total of other fees earned. Net new business/billings represent the estimated annualised impact on billings of new business gained from both existing and new clients, net of existing client business lost. The estimated impact is based upon initial assessments of the clients’ marketing budgets, which may not necessarily result in actual billings of the same amount.

Adjusted free cash flow

The Group bases its internal cash flow objectives on adjusted operating cash flow, adjusted free cash flow and adjusted net cash flow. Management believes adjusted operating cash flow is a target that can be translated into targets for operating business units that do not have direct control of items which influence adjusted free cash flow, such as the Group effective tax rate and leverage; and is meaningful to investors as a measure of the degree to which headline operating profit is converted into cash after the cost of leased operating assets, investment in capital expenditure, and working capital.

Adjusted free cash flow is meaningful to investors because it is the measure of the Group’s funds available for acquisition related payments, dividends to shareholders, share repurchases and debt repayment. The purpose of presenting adjusted free cash flow is to indicate the ongoing cash generation within the control of the Group after taking account of the necessary cash expenditures of maintaining the capital and operating structure of the Group (in the form of payments of interest, corporate taxation, and capital expenditure).

Adjusted net cash flow is meaningful to investors because it is the measure of the Group’s funds available for debt repayment or to increase cash on hand after acquisition related payments, dividends to shareholders and share repurchases. The purpose of presenting adjusted net cash flow is to indicate the ongoing cash generation within the control of the Group after taking account of the necessary cash expenditures of maintaining the capital and operating structure of the Group (in the form of payments of interest, corporate taxation, and capital expenditure) and after acquisitions, dividend payments to shareholders and share repurchases.

Adjusted free cash flow is calculated as cash used in/generated by operations plus dividends received from associates, interest received, investment income received, and share option proceeds, less corporation and overseas tax paid, interest and similar charges paid, dividends paid to non-controlling interests in subsidiary undertakings, repayment of lease liabilities (including interest), earnout payments and purchases of property, plant and equipment and purchases of other intangible assets.

A tabular reconciliation of cash used by operations to adjusted operating cash flow, adjusted free cash flow and adjusted net cash flow is as follows:


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Cash used by operations	(298)	(198)

Purchase of property, plant and equipment	(82)	(81)
Purchase of other intangible assets (including capitalised computer software)	(25)	(23)
Repayment of lease liabilities	(140)	(135)
Interest paid on lease liabilities	(47)	(49)
Investment income	5	3
Share option proceeds	—	1
Adjusted operating cash flow	(587)	(482)
Corporation and overseas tax paid	(168)	(171)
Interest and similar charges paid	(118)	(156)
Interest received	69	108
Dividends from associates	18	19
Earnout payments	(25)	(12)
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests in subsidiary undertakings	(34)	(61)
Adjusted free cash flow	(845)	(755)
Disposal proceeds	33	14
Net initial acquisition payments	(29)	(203)
Dividends	—	—
Share purchases	(57)	(37)
Adjusted net cash flow	(898)	(981)

Adjusted net debt and average adjusted net debt

Management believes that adjusted net debt and average adjusted net debt are appropriate and meaningful measures of the debt levels within the Group. Adjusted net debt at a period end consists of cash and short-term deposits, bank overdraft, bonds and bank loans due within one year and bonds and bank loans due after one year. Average adjusted net debt is calculated as the average monthly net borrowings of the Group. Adjusted net debt excludes lease liabilities.

The following table is an analysis of adjusted net debt:


	30 June 2024	31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Cash and short-term deposits	2,128	2,218
Bank overdrafts, bonds and bank loans due within one year	(1,201)	(946)


Bonds and bank loans due after one year	(4,298)	(3,775)

Adjusted net debt	(3,371)	(2,503)

Components of earnings/(loss) from associates - after interest and tax

Management reviews the 'earnings/(loss) from associates - after interest and tax' by assessing the underlying component movements including 'share of profit before interest and taxation of associates', 'share of adjusting items of associates', 'share of interest and non-controlling interests of associates', and 'share of taxation of associates', which are derived from the Income Statements of the associate undertakings.

The following table is an analysis of 'earnings/(loss) from associates - after interest and tax' and underlying component movements:


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 20231
	£m	£m
Share of profit before interest and taxation	18	13
Share of adjusting items of associates	1	(7)
Share of interest and non-controlling interests	2	1
Share of taxation	(5)	(6)
Earnings/(loss) from associates - after interest and tax	16	1

1 The share of profit before interest and taxation, share of interest and non-controlling interests and share of taxation amounts for the six months ended 30 June 2023 were restated from £66 million, £(55) million and £(3) million to £13 million, £1 million and £(6) million respectively. There was nil impact on earnings from associates - after interest and tax.

Exhibit 2

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements of WPP plc

WPP plc

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim income statement

for the six months ended 30 June 2024 and 2023


	Notes	Six months ended 30 June 2024		Six months ended 30 June 2023
		£m		£m
Revenue	3	7,227		7,221
Costs of services		(6,187)		(6,157)
Gross profit		1,040		1,064
General and administrative costs		(617)		(758)
Operating profit		423		306
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax		16		1
Profit before interest and taxation		439		307
Finance and investment income		74		103
Finance costs		(210)		(231)
Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments		35		25
Profit before taxation	3	338		204
Taxation		(92)		(55)
Profit for the period		246		149

Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent		205		112
Non-controlling interests		41		37
		246		149

Earnings per share
Basic earnings per ordinary share	5	19.1	p	10.5	p
Diluted earnings per ordinary share	5	18.8	p	10.3	p

Note

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this unaudited condensed consolidated interim income statement.

WPP plc

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of comprehensive income

for the six months ended 30 June 2024 and 2023


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Profit for the period	246	149
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:
Foreign exchange differences on translation of foreign operations	(37)	(285)
(Loss)/gain on net investment hedges	(18)	78
Cash flow hedges:
Fair value loss arising on hedging instruments	(45)	(24)
Less: gain reclassified to profit or loss	29	24
Costs of hedging1	11	—
	(60)	(207)
Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:


Movements on equity investments held at fair value through other comprehensive income	(2)	(3)
	(2)	(3)
Other comprehensive loss for the period	(62)	(210)
Total comprehensive income/(loss) for the period	184	(61)

Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent	142	(76)
Non-controlling interests	42	15
	184	(61)

Note

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of comprehensive income.

1 During 2024, WPP entered into hedging arrangements for which the foreign currency basis within the hedging instrument was excluded from the hedge designation, and identified as a cost of hedging, as permitted by IFRS.

WPP plc

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim cash flow statement

for the six months ended 30 June 2024 and 2023


	Notes	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
		£m	£m
Net cash outflow from operating activities1	6	(540)	(445)
Investing activities
Acquisitions1		(33)	(198)
Disposals of investments and subsidiaries		29	11
Purchases of property, plant and equipment		(82)	(81)
Purchases of other intangible assets (including software)		(25)	(23)
Proceeds on disposal of property, plant and equipment		1	3
Net cash outflow from investing activities		(110)	(288)
Financing activities
Principal elements of lease payments		(140)	(135)
Share option proceeds		—	1
Cash consideration received from non-controlling interests		3	—
Cash consideration for purchase of non-controlling interests		(20)	(16)
Share repurchases and buybacks		(57)	(37)
Proceeds from borrowings and bonds		1,060	1,044
Repayment of borrowings and bonds		(13)	(470)
Financing and share issue net costs		(6)	(5)
Dividends paid to non-controlling interests in subsidiary undertakings		(34)	(61)
Net cash inflow from financing activities		793	321
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents		143	(412)
Translation of cash and cash equivalents		(59)	(59)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period		1,860	1,986
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	7	1,944	1,515

Note

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this unaudited condensed consolidated interim cash flow statement.

1This includes initial cash consideration for acquisitions (less cash and cash equivalents acquired) as well as earnout payments made.
Earnout payments in excess of the amount determined at acquisition are recorded as operating activities.

WPP plc

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim balance sheet

as at 30 June 2024 and 31 December 2023


	Notes	30 June 2024	31 December 2023
		£m	£m
Non-current assets
Intangible assets:
Goodwill		8,345	8,389
Other intangibles		793	850
Property, plant and equipment		835	828
Right-of-use assets		1,312	1,382
Interests in associates		251	287
Other investments		312	333
Deferred tax assets		340	324
Corporate income tax recoverable		50	77
Trade and other receivables		200	209
		12,438	12,679
Current assets
Corporate income tax recoverable		146	115
Trade and other receivables		7,982	8,460
Accrued income		3,119	3,151
Cash and short-term deposits	7	2,128	2,218
		13,375	13,944
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables		(11,912)	(13,323)
Deferred income		(1,271)	(1,319)
Corporate income tax payable		(264)	(370)
Lease liabilities		(263)	(292)
Bank overdrafts and bonds	7	(1,201)	(946)
Provisions for liabilities and charges1		(77)	(55)
		(14,988)	(16,305)
Net current liabilities		(1,613)	(2,361)
Total assets less current liabilities		10,825	10,318
Non-current liabilities
Bonds	7	(4,298)	(3,775)
Trade and other payables		(228)	(283)
Deferred tax liabilities		(184)	(179)
Employee benefit obligations		(134)	(136)
Provisions for liabilities and charges1		(243)	(250)
Lease liabilities		(1,780)	(1,862)
		(6,867)	(6,485)
Net assets		3,958	3,833
Equity
Called-up share capital		114	114
Share premium account		577	577
Other reserves		138	187
Own shares		(940)	(990)
Retained earnings		3,608	3,488
Equity shareholders’ funds		3,497	3,376
Non-controlling interests		461	457
Total equity		3,958	3,833

Note

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this unaudited condensed consolidated interim balance sheet.

1 Current provisions for liabilities and charges were previously presented within Non-current provisions for liabilities and charges.

WPP plc

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of changes in equity

for the six months ended 30 June 2024 and 2023


	Called-up share capital	Share premium account	Other reserves	Own shares	Retained earnings1	Total equity shareholders’ funds	Non- controlling interests	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Balance at 1 January 2023	114	576	285	(1,054)	3,760	3,681	479	4,160
Profit for the period	—	—	—	—	112	112	37	149
Other comprehensive loss	—	—	(184)	—	(4)	(188)	(22)	(210)
Total comprehensive (loss)/income	—	—	(184)	—	108	(76)	15	(61)
Dividends paid	—	—	—	—	—	—	(61)	(61)
Ordinary shares issued	—	1	—	—	—	1	—	1
Treasury shares used for share option schemes	—	—	—	55	(55)	—	—	—
Non-cash share-based incentive plans (including share options)	—	—	—	—	76	76	—	76
Tax adjustment on share-based payments	—	—	—	—	2	2	—	2
Net movement in own shares held by ESOP Trusts	—	—	—	(14)	(23)	(37)	—	(37)
Recognition/derecognition of liabilities in respect of put options	—	—	4	—	(2)	2	—	2
Net movement in non-controlling interests2	—	—	—	—	(11)	(11)	(6)	(17)
Total transactions with owners	—	1	4	41	(13)	33	(67)	(34)

Balance at 30 June 2023	114	577	105	(1,013)	3,855	3,638	427	4,065

	Called-up share capital	Share premium account	Other reserves	Own shares	Retained earnings1	Total equity shareholders’ funds	Non- controlling interests	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m
Balance at 1 January 2024	114	577	187	(990)	3,488	3,376	457	3,833
Profit for the period	—	—	—	—	205	205	41	246
Other comprehensive income	—	—	(61)	—	(2)	(63)	1	(62)
Total comprehensive (loss)/income	—	—	(61)	—	203	142	42	184
Dividends paid	—	—	—	—	—	—	(34)	(34)
Ordinary shares issued	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Treasury shares used for share option schemes	—	—	—	54	(54)	—	—	—
Non-cash share-based incentive plans (including share options)	—	—	—	—	56	56	—	56
Tax adjustment on share-based payments		—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Net movement in own shares held by ESOP Trusts	—	—	—	(4)	(53)	(57)	—	(57)
Recognition/derecognition of liabilities in respect of put options	—	—	12	—	2	14	—	14
Net movement in non-controlling interests2	—	—	—	—	(34)	(34)	(4)	(38)
Total transactions with owners	—	—	12	50	(83)	(21)	(38)	(59)

Balance at 30 June 2024	114	577	138	(940)	3,608	3,497	461	3,958

Notes

The accompanying notes form an integral part of this unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of changes in equity.

1Accumulated losses on existing equity investments held at fair value through other comprehensive income are £349 million at 30 June 2024 (31 December 2023: £347 million).

2Net movement in non-controlling interests represents movements in retained earnings and non-controlling interests arising from changes in ownership of existing subsidiaries and recognition of non-controlling interests on new acquisitions.

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements

1. Basis of preparation

The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the six months ended 30 June 2024 comply with IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and with the accounting policies of WPP plc and its subsidiaries (the Group), which were set out in the fiscal year 2023 Form 20-F. No changes have been made to the Group’s accounting policies in the period ended 30 June 2024, with the exception of taxation described below.

The tax charge for the Group is calculated in accordance with IAS 34, by applying management’s best estimate of the effective tax rate (excluding discrete items) expected to apply to total annual earnings, to the profit before tax for the six months ended 30 June 2024. This is then adjusted for certain discrete items which occurred in the interim period and incorporates the Group's assessment of the impact of the OECD Pillar Two rules, which was insignificant in calculating the Group’s tax charge.

The Group does not consider that the amendments to standards adopted during the period have a significant impact on the financial statements.

The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention, except for the revaluation of certain financial instruments as disclosed in our accounting policies. The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the six months to 30 June 2024 and six months to 30 June 2023 do not constitute statutory accounts. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023, reported on by the Group's previous auditor, have been delivered to the Jersey Registrar and received an unqualified auditors’ report.

On 8 May 2024, the Group appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company’s new auditor.

Having considered the principal risks (as outlined in the fiscal year 2023 Form 20-F), the directors consider it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing these interim financial statements. In making this assessment, the directors have reviewed the results of latest cash flow forecasts, incorporating a severe but plausible downside modelling the impact of a 29% decrease in revenue, offset by cost mitigations.

The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements do not include all the information and disclosures required in the annual financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the Group’s annual consolidated financial statements as at 31 December 2023.

The presentation currency of the Group is pounds sterling and the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared on this basis. The period ended 30 June 2024 unaudited condensed consolidated interim income statement is prepared using, among other currencies, average exchange rates of US$1.27 to the pound (period ended 2023: US$1.23) and €1.17 to the pound (period ended 2023: €1.14). The unaudited condensed consolidated interim balance sheet as at 30 June 2024 has been prepared using the exchange rates on that day of US$1.26 to the pound (31 December 2023: US$1.27) and €1.18 to the pound (31 December 2023: €1.15).

2. Costs of services and general and administrative costs

Costs of services and general and administrative costs include:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Staff costs	3,985	4,141
Establishment costs	242	272
Media pass-through costs	1,208	1,023
Other costs of services and general and administrative costs1	1,369	1,479
	6,804	6,915

Note

1Other costs of services and general and administrative costs include £420 million (period ended 2023: £387 million) of other pass-through costs.

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements (continued)

2. Costs of services and general and administrative costs (continued)

Other costs of services and general and administrative costs include:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Goodwill impairment	—	53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Restructuring and transformation costs	131	87
Property-related restructuring costs	22	180

In the prior period, the goodwill impairment charge of £53 million related to businesses in the Group that were closed or where the impact of macroeconomic conditions and trading circumstances indicated impairment to the carrying value.

Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets of £57 million (2023: £36 million) includes an accelerated amortisation charge of £20 million (2023: £2 million impairment charge) for certain brands that no longer have an indefinite useful life due to the creation of Burson.

Restructuring and transformation costs of £131 million (2023: £87 million) include £47 million (2023: £54 million) in relation to the Group's IT transformation programme. These IT costs include £27 million (2023: £24 million) of costs in relation to the rollout of new ERP systems in order to drive efficiency and collaboration throughout the Group; and £19 million (2023:£15 million) related to an IT transition programme to move to a multi-vendor environment.

Restructuring and transformation costs also include £76 million (2023: £26 million) of costs related to the continuing restructuring plan, including the creation of VML and Burson, and simplification of GroupM. The prior period costs include restructuring actions at under-performing businesses, aimed to reduce ongoing costs and simplify operational structures. Also included within restructuring and transformation costs is £8 million (2023: £7 million) of on-going property costs, related to impairments the Group recognised in prior years in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Property-related restructuring costs of £22 million (2023: £180 million) include £16 million (2023: £nil) of on-going property costs related to property impairments recognised in the prior year as part of the Group’s property requirements review in 2023; and £6 million of additional impairment charges related to the reassessment of sublet assumptions on previously impaired properties. The impairment charges included within property-related costs include £3 million (2023: £102 million) in relation to right-of-use assets and £1 million (2023: £38 million) of related property, plant and equipment.

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements (continued)

3. Segmental analysis

Reported contributions by reportable segments were as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Revenue1,2
Global Integrated Agencies	6,117	6,082
Public Relations	601	618
Specialist Agencies	509	521
	7,227	7,221
Revenue less pass-through costs1,3
Global Integrated Agencies	4,595	4,760
Public Relations	568	584
Specialist Agencies	436	467
	5,599	5,811
Headline operating profit1,4
Global Integrated Agencies	551	550
Public Relations	80	88
Specialist Agencies	15	28
	646	666
Adjusting items within IFRS operating profit4	(223)	(360)
Financing items5	(101)	(103)
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	16	1
Reported profit before tax	338	204

Notes

2 Intersegment sales have not been separately disclosed as they are not material.

3 Revenue less pass-through costs is revenue less media and other pass-through costs. Pass-through costs comprise fees paid to external suppliers where they are engaged to perform part or all of a specific project and are charged directly to clients, predominately media costs.

4 A reconciliation from reported profit before tax to headline operating profit is also provided in Note 11.

5 Financing items include finance and investment income, finance costs and revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments.

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements (continued)

3. Segmental analysis (continued)

Reported contributions by geographical area were as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Revenue1
North America3	2,781	2,744
United Kingdom	1,058	1,065
Western Continental Europe	1,458	1,477
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe	1,930	1,935
	7,227	7,221
Revenue less pass-through costs1
North America3	2,207	2,284
United Kingdom	779	796
Western Continental Europe	1,164	1,179
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe	1,449	1,552
	5,599	5,811
Headline operating profit2
North America3	336	287
United Kingdom	78	98
Western Continental Europe	117	111
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe	115	170
	646	666

Notes

1 Intersegment sales have not been separately disclosed as they are not material.

2 A reconciliation from reported profit before tax to headline operating profit is also provided in Note 11.

3 North America includes the US, which has revenue of £2,609 million (2023: £2,579 million), revenue less pass-through costs of £2,071 million (2023: £2,144 million) and headline operating profit of £316 million (2023: £268 million).

4. Ordinary dividends

The Board has recommended an interim dividend of 15.0p (2023: 15.0p) per ordinary share. This is expected to be paid on 1 November 2024 to shareholders on the register at 11 October 2024. The Board recommended a final dividend of 24.4p per ordinary share in respect of 2023. This was paid on 5 July 2024.

5. Earnings per share (EPS)

Basic EPS

The calculation of basic EPS is as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
Earnings1 (£ million)	205	112
Weighted average shares used in basic EPS calculation (million)	1,075	1,071
EPS	19.1p	10.5p

Diluted EPS

The calculation of diluted EPS is as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
Earnings1 (£ million)	205	112
Weighted average shares used in diluted EPS calculation (million)	1,092	1,091
Diluted EPS	18.8p	10.3p

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements (continued)

A reconciliation between the shares used in calculating basic and diluted EPS is as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Weighted average shares used in basic EPS calculation	1,075	1,071
Dilutive share options outstanding	—	1
Other potentially issuable shares	17	19
Weighted average shares used in diluted EPS calculation	1,092	1,091

At 30 June 2024 there were 1,141,513,946 (30 June 2023: 1,141,513,196) ordinary shares in issue, including 62,959,463 treasury shares (30 June 2023: 66,675,497).

Note

1Earnings is equivalent to profit for the period attributable to equity holders of the parent.

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements (continued)

6. Analysis of cash flows

The following tables analyse the net cash outflow from operating activities presented within the cash flow statement on page 3:

Net cash outflow from operating activities:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Profit for the period	246	149
Taxation	92	55
Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments	(35)	(25)
Finance costs	210	231
Finance and investment income	(74)	(103)
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	(16)	(1)
Operating profit	423	306
Adjustments for:
Non-cash share-based incentive plans (including share options)	56	76
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	81	84
Depreciation of right-of-use assets	110	129
Impairment charges included within adjusting items1	4	140
Goodwill impairment	—	53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Amortisation of other intangible assets	14	9
Impairment of investments in associates	23	11
(Gains)/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries	(8)	3
Gains on sale of property, plant and equipment	(2)	(1)
Operating cash flow before movements in working capital and provisions	758	846
Decrease in trade receivables and accrued income	430	1,090
Decrease in trade payables and deferred income	(1,055)	(1,612)
Increase in other receivables	(109)	(65)
Decrease in other payables	(337)	(509)
Increase in provisions	15	52
Cash used by operations	(298)	(198)
Corporation and overseas tax paid	(168)	(171)

Other interest and similar charges paid	(118)	(156)
Interest paid on lease liabilities	(47)	(49)
Interest received	69	108
Investment income	5	3
Dividends from associates	18	19
Earnout payments recognised in operating activities2	(1)	(1)
Net cash outflow from operating activities	(540)	(445)

Notes

1 Impairment charges included within adjusting items includes impairments for right-of-use assets, property, plant and equipment, and other intangible assets.

2 Earnout payments in excess of the amount determined at acquisition are recorded as operating activities.

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements (continued)

7. Cash and cash equivalents and adjusted net debt


	30 June 2024	31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Cash at bank and in hand	1,698	2,037
Short-term bank deposits	430	181
Overdrafts1	(184)	(358)
Cash and cash equivalents	1,944	1,860
Bonds due within one year	(1,017)	(588)
Bonds due after one year	(4,298)	(3,775)
Bond borrowings	(5,315)	(4,363)
Cash and cash equivalents less bond borrowings	(3,371)	(2,503)

The Group estimates that the fair value of corporate bonds is £5,041 million at 30 June 2024 (31 December 2023: £4,120 million).

The following table is an analysis of future payments in relation to the Group’s borrowings, on an accruals and undiscounted basis which, therefore, differs from the carrying value:


	30 June 2024	31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Within one year	(1,165)	(711)
Between one and two years	(138)	(535)
Between two and three years	(1,397)	(746)
Between three and four years	(742)	(726)
Between four and five years	(83)	(704)
Over five years	(2,956)	(1,859)
Bond borrowings (including interest)	(6,481)	(5,281)
Short-term overdrafts – within one year	(184)	(358)
Future anticipated cash flows	(6,665)	(5,639)
Effect of discounting and interest	1,166	918
Borrowings	(5,499)	(4,721)
Cash and short-term deposits	2,128	2,218
Cash and cash equivalents less bond borrowings	(3,371)	(2,503)

Note

1 Bank overdrafts are included in cash and cash equivalents because they form an integral part of the Group’s cash management.

8. Related party transactions

The Group enters into transactions with its associate undertakings. The Group has continuing transactions with Compas and Kantar, including sales, purchases, the provision of IT services, subleases and property-related items.

In the period ended 30 June 2024, revenue of £202 million (30 June 2023: £112 million) was reported in relation to Compas, an associate in the USA, and revenue of £5 million (30 June 2023: £7 million) was reported in relation to Kantar.

The following amounts were outstanding at 30 June 2024:


	30 June 2024	31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Amounts owed by related parties	83	74

Amounts owed to related parties	(63)	(75)

There are no material provisions for doubtful debts relating to these balances and no material expense has been recognised in the income statement in relation to bad or doubtful debts for the period ended 30 June 2024.

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements (continued)

9. Financial Instruments - fair value

The following table provides an analysis of financial instruments that are measured subsequent to initial recognition at fair value, grouped into levels 1 to 3 based on the degree to which the fair value is observable, or based on observable inputs:


	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m
30 June 2024
Derivatives in designated hedge relationships
Derivative assets	—	4	—	4
Derivative liabilities	—	(57)	—	(57)
Held at fair value through profit or loss
Other investments	—	—	238	238
Derivative assets	—	2	—	2
Derivative liabilities	—	(4)	—	(4)
Payments due to vendors (earnout agreements)	—	—	(151)	(151)
Held at fair value through other comprehensive income
Other investments	7	—	67	74

The fair values of financial assets and liabilities are based on quoted market prices where available. Where the market value is not available, the Group has estimated relevant fair values on the basis of available information from outside sources. There have been no transfers between levels during the period.

Reconciliation of level 3 fair value measurements:


	Payments due to vendors (earnout agreements)	Other investments
	£m	£m
1 January 2024	(199)	325
Gains/(losses) recognised in the income statement	24	(20)
Losses recognised in other comprehensive income	—	(1)
Exchange adjustments	—	—
Additions	(1)	1
Settlements	25	—
30 June 2024	(151)	305

10. Contingent liabilities

The Group operates in a large number of markets with complex tax and legislative regimes that are open to subjective interpretation, and for which tax audits can take several years to resolve. The Group has received a number of demands and assessments from different states in India that have been or will be appealed to the courts, none of which are individually material. However, as permitted by IAS 37, the provision of any further information within this disclosure is expected to seriously prejudice the Group’s position in the dispute, given that appeals are ongoing. The Group continues to believe that we will be successful in our appeals, however any appeal process is intrinsically uncertain. There is no significant change to the contingent liability since the publication of the fiscal year 2023 Form 20-F on 21 March 2024.

Notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements (continued)

11. Reconciliation of profit before taxation to headline operating profit


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Profit before taxation	338	204
Finance and investment income	(74)	(103)
Finance costs	210	231
Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments	(35)	(25)
Profit before interest and taxation	439	307
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	(16)	(1)
Operating profit	423	306
Goodwill impairment	—	53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Impairment of investments in associates	23	11
Restructuring and transformation costs	131	87
Property-related restructuring costs	22	180
(Gains)/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries	(8)	3
Gains on disposal of property	(2)	—
Litigation settlement	—	(10)
Headline operating profit	646	666

12. Events after the reporting period

On 7 August 2024, the Group announced it has entered into an agreement to sell its entire majority stake in FGS Global (FGS) to Kite Bidco Inc., an entity controlled by investment funds managed or advised by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR), at an enterprise value of $1.7 billion. FGS, a leading strategic communications and advisory firm, is a constituent of the Group’s Public Relations operating segment. The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Cover Page	6 Months Ended
Cover Page	Jun. 30, 2024
Cover [Abstract]
Document Type	6-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jun. 30, 2024
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2024
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Entity Registrant Name	WPP plc
Entity Central Index Key	0000806968
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim income statement - GBP (£) £ in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2024	Jun. 30, 2023
Profit or loss [abstract]
Revenue	£ 7,227	£ 7,221
Costs of services	(6,187)	(6,157)
Gross profit	1,040	1,064
General and administrative costs	(617)	(758)
Operating profit	423	306
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	16	1
Profit before interest and taxation	439	307
Finance and investment income	74	103
Finance costs	(210)	(231)
Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments	35	25
Profit before taxation	338	204
Taxation	(92)	(55)
Profit for the period	246	149
Attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent	205	112
Non-controlling interests	41	37
Total Equity holders of the parent	£ 246	£ 149
Earnings per share
Basic earnings per ordinary share (pounds per share)	£ 0.191	£ 0.105
Diluted earnings per ordinary share (pounds per share)	£ 0.188	£ 0.103

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of comprehensive income - GBP (£)
£ in Millions

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Jun. 30, 2023

Statement of comprehensive income [abstract]

Profit for the period

£ 246

£ 149

Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:

Foreign exchange differences on translation of foreign operations

(37)

(285)

(Loss)/gain on net investment hedges

(18)

Cash flow hedges:

Fair value loss arising on hedging instruments

(45)

(24)

Less: gain reclassified to profit or loss

Costs of hedging

^[1]

Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss

(60)

(207)

Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:

Movements on equity investments held at fair value through other comprehensive income

(2)

(3)

Items that will not be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss

(2)

(3)

Other comprehensive loss for the period

(62)

(210)

Total comprehensive income/(loss) for the period

184

(61)

Attributable to:

Equity holders of the parent

142

(76)

Non-controlling interests

Total comprehensive income/(loss) for the period

£ 184

£ (61)

[1]	During 2024, WPP entered into hedging arrangements for which the foreign currency basis within the hedging instrument was excluded from the hedge designation, and identified as a cost of hedging, as permitted by IFRS.

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim cash flow statement - GBP (£)
£ in Millions

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Jun. 30, 2023

Statement of cash flows [abstract]

Net cash outflow from operating activities

^[1]

£ (540)

£ (445)

Investing activities

Acquisitions

^[1]

(33)

(198)

Disposals of investments and subsidiaries

Purchases of property, plant and equipment

(82)

(81)

Purchases of other intangible assets (including software)

(25)

(23)

Proceeds on disposal of property, plant and equipment

Net cash outflow from investing activities

(110)

(288)

Financing activities

Principal elements of lease payments

(140)

(135)

Share option proceeds

Cash consideration received from non-controlling interests

Cash consideration for purchase of non-controlling interests

(20)

(16)

Share repurchases and buybacks

(57)

(37)

Proceeds from borrowings and bonds

1,060

1,044

Repayment of borrowings and bonds

(13)

(470)

Financing and share issue net costs

(6)

(5)

Dividends paid to non-controlling interests in subsidiary undertakings

(34)

(61)

Net cash inflow from financing activities

793

321

Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

143

(412)

Translation of cash and cash equivalents

(59)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period

1,944

1,515

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period

£ 1,944

£ 1,515

[1]	This includes initial cash consideration for acquisitions (less cash and cash equivalents acquired) as well as earnout payments made. Earnout payments in excess of the amount determined at acquisition are recorded as operating activities.

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim balance sheet - GBP (£)
£ in Millions

Jun. 30, 2024

Dec. 31, 2023

Intangible assets:

Goodwill

£ 8,345

£ 8,389

Other intangibles

793

850

Property, plant and equipment

835

828

Right-of-use assets

1,312

1,382

Interests in associates

251

287

Other investments

312

333

Deferred tax assets

340

324

Corporate income tax recoverable

Trade and other receivables

200

209

Non-current assets

12,438

12,679

Current assets

Corporate income tax recoverable

146

115

Trade and other receivables

7,982

8,460

Accrued income

3,119

3,151

Cash and short-term deposits

2,128

2,218

Current assets

13,375

13,944

Current liabilities

Trade and other payables

(11,912)

(13,323)

Deferred income

(1,271)

(1,319)

Corporate income tax payable

(264)

(370)

Lease liabilities

(263)

(292)

Bank overdrafts and bonds

(1,201)

(946)

Provisions for liabilities and charges

^[1]

(77)

(55)

Current liabilities

(14,988)

(16,305)

Net current liabilities

(1,613)

(2,361)

Total assets less current liabilities

10,825

10,318

Non-current liabilities

Bonds

(4,298)

(3,775)

Trade and other payables

(228)

(283)

Deferred tax liabilities

(184)

(179)

Employee benefit obligations

(134)

(136)

Provisions for liabilities and charges

^[1]

(243)

(250)

Lease liabilities

(1,780)

(1,862)

Non-current liabilities

(6,867)

(6,485)

Net assets

3,958

3,833

Equity

Called-up share capital

114

Share premium account

577

Other reserves

138

187

Own shares

(940)

(990)

Retained earnings

3,608

3,488

Equity shareholders’ funds

3,497

3,376

Non-controlling interests

461

457

Total equity

£ 3,958

£ 3,833

[1]	Current provisions for liabilities and charges were previously presented within Non-current provisions for liabilities and charges.

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of changes in equity - GBP (£)
£ in Millions

Total

Total equity shareholders’ funds

Called-up share capital

Share premium account

Other reserves

Own shares

Retained earnings

Non- controlling interests

Beginning balance at Dec. 31, 2022

£ 4,160

£ 3,681

£ 114

£ 576

£ 285

£ (1,054)

£ 3,760

^[1]

£ 479

Profit for the period

149

112

^[1]

Other comprehensive loss for the period

(210)

(188)

(184)

(4)

^[1]

(22)

Total comprehensive income/(loss) for the period

(61)

(76)

(184)

108

^[1]

Dividends paid

(61)

Ordinary shares issued

Treasury shares used for share option schemes

(55)

^[1]

Non-cash share-based incentive plans (including share options)

^[1]

Tax adjustment on share-based payments

^[1]

Net movement in own shares held by ESOP Trusts

(37)

(14)

(23)

^[1]

Recognition/derecognition of liabilities in respect of put options

(2)

^[1]

Net movemnet in non-controlling interests

^[2]

(17)

(11)

^[1]

(6)

Total transactions with owners

(34)

(13)

(67)

Ending balance at Jun. 30, 2023

4,065

3,638

114

577

105

(1,013)

3,855

^[1]

427

Beginning balance at Dec. 31, 2023

3,833

3,376

114

577

187

(990)

3,488

457

Profit for the period

246

205

Other comprehensive loss for the period

(62)

(63)

(61)

(2)

Total comprehensive income/(loss) for the period

184

142

(61)

203

Dividends paid

(34)

Treasury shares used for share option schemes

(54)

Non-cash share-based incentive plans (including share options)

Net movement in own shares held by ESOP Trusts

(57)

(4)

(53)

Recognition/derecognition of liabilities in respect of put options

Net movemnet in non-controlling interests

^[2]

(38)

(34)

(4)

Total transactions with owners

(59)

(21)

(83)

(38)

Ending balance at Jun. 30, 2024

£ 3,958

£ 3,497

£ 114

£ 577

£ 138

£ (940)

£ 3,608

£ 461

[1]	Accumulated losses on existing equity investments held at fair value through other comprehensive income are £349 million at 30 June 2024 (31 December 2023: £347 million).
[2]	Net movement in non-controlling interests represents movements in retained earnings and non-controlling interests arising from changes in ownership of existing subsidiaries and recognition of non-controlling interests on new acquisitions.

Unaudited condensed consolidated interim statement of changes in equity (Parenthetical) - GBP (£) £ in Millions	Jun. 30, 2024	Dec. 31, 2023
Statement of changes in equity [abstract]
Reserve of gains and losses on hedging instruments that hedge investments in equity instruments	£ 349	£ 347

Basis of preparation	6 Months Ended
Basis of preparation	Jun. 30, 2024
Basis of preparation [Abstract]
Basis of preparation	Basis of preparation The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the six months ended 30 June 2024 comply with IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and with the accounting policies of WPP plc and its subsidiaries (the Group), which were set out in the fiscal year 2023 Form 20-F. No changes have been made to the Group’s accounting policies in the period ended 30 June 2024, with the exception of taxation described below. The tax charge for the Group is calculated in accordance with IAS 34, by applying management’s best estimate of the effective tax rate (excluding discrete items) expected to apply to total annual earnings, to the profit before tax for the six months ended 30 June 2024. This is then adjusted for certain discrete items which occurred in the interim period and incorporates the Group's assessment of the impact of the OECD Pillar Two rules, which was insignificant in calculating the Group’s tax charge. The Group does not consider that the amendments to standards adopted during the period have a significant impact on the financial statements. The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention, except for the revaluation of certain financial instruments as disclosed in our accounting policies. The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the six months to 30 June 2024 and six months to 30 June 2023 do not constitute statutory accounts. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023, reported on by the Group's previous auditor, have been delivered to the Jersey Registrar and received an unqualified auditors’ report. On 8 May 2024, the Group appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company’s new auditor. Having considered the principal risks (as outlined in the fiscal year 2023 Form 20-F), the directors consider it appropriate to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing these interim financial statements. In making this assessment, the directors have reviewed the results of latest cash flow forecasts, incorporating a severe but plausible downside modelling the impact of a 29% decrease in revenue, offset by cost mitigations. The unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements do not include all the information and disclosures required in the annual financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the Group’s annual consolidated financial statements as at 31 December 2023. The presentation currency of the Group is pounds sterling and the unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared on this basis. The period ended 30 June 2024 unaudited condensed consolidated interim income statement is prepared using, among other currencies, average exchange rates of US$1.27 to the pound (period ended 2023: US$1.23) and €1.17 to the pound (period ended 2023: €1.14). The unaudited condensed consolidated interim balance sheet as at 30 June 2024 has been prepared using the exchange rates on that day of US$1.26 to the pound (31 December 2023: US$1.27) and €1.18 to the pound (31 December 2023: €1.15).

Costs of services and general and administrative costs

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Costs of service and general and administrative costs [Abstract]

Costs of services and general and administrative costs

Costs of services and general and administrative costs include:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Staff costs	3,985	4,141
Establishment costs	242	272
Media pass-through costs	1,208	1,023
Other costs of services and general and administrative costs1	1,369	1,479
	6,804	6,915

Note

1Other costs of services and general and administrative costs include £420 million (period ended 2023: £387 million) of other pass-through costs.

2. Costs of services and general and administrative costs (continued)

Other costs of services and general and administrative costs include:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Goodwill impairment	—	53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Restructuring and transformation costs	131	87
Property-related restructuring costs	22	180

Segmental analysis

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Disclosure of operating segments [abstract]

Segmental analysis

Reported contributions by reportable segments were as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Revenue1,2
Global Integrated Agencies	6,117	6,082
Public Relations	601	618
Specialist Agencies	509	521
	7,227	7,221
Revenue less pass-through costs1,3
Global Integrated Agencies	4,595	4,760
Public Relations	568	584
Specialist Agencies	436	467
	5,599	5,811
Headline operating profit1,4
Global Integrated Agencies	551	550
Public Relations	80	88
Specialist Agencies	15	28
	646	666
Adjusting items within IFRS operating profit4	(223)	(360)
Financing items5	(101)	(103)
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	16	1
Reported profit before tax	338	204

Notes

2 Intersegment sales have not been separately disclosed as they are not material.

4 A reconciliation from reported profit before tax to headline operating profit is also provided in Note 11.

5 Financing items include finance and investment income, finance costs and revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments.

3. Segmental analysis (continued)

Reported contributions by geographical area were as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Revenue1
North America3	2,781	2,744
United Kingdom	1,058	1,065
Western Continental Europe	1,458	1,477
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe	1,930	1,935
	7,227	7,221
Revenue less pass-through costs1
North America3	2,207	2,284
United Kingdom	779	796
Western Continental Europe	1,164	1,179
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe	1,449	1,552
	5,599	5,811
Headline operating profit2
North America3	336	287
United Kingdom	78	98
Western Continental Europe	117	111
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe	115	170
	646	666

Notes

1 Intersegment sales have not been separately disclosed as they are not material.

2 A reconciliation from reported profit before tax to headline operating profit is also provided in Note 11.

Ordinary dividends	6 Months Ended
Ordinary dividends	Jun. 30, 2024
Ordinary dividends [Abstract]
Ordinary dividends	Ordinary dividends The Board has recommended an interim dividend of 15.0p (2023: 15.0p) per ordinary share. This is expected to be paid on 1 November 2024 to shareholders on the register at 11 October 2024. The Board recommended a final dividend of 24.4p per ordinary share in respect of 2023. This was paid on 5 July 2024.

Earnings per share (EPS)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Earnings per share [abstract]

Earnings per share (EPS)

Basic EPS

The calculation of basic EPS is as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
Earnings1 (£ million)	205	112
Weighted average shares used in basic EPS calculation (million)	1,075	1,071
EPS	19.1p	10.5p

Diluted EPS

The calculation of diluted EPS is as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
Earnings1 (£ million)	205	112
Weighted average shares used in diluted EPS calculation (million)	1,092	1,091
Diluted EPS	18.8p	10.3p

A reconciliation between the shares used in calculating basic and diluted EPS is as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Weighted average shares used in basic EPS calculation	1,075	1,071
Dilutive share options outstanding	—	1
Other potentially issuable shares	17	19
Weighted average shares used in diluted EPS calculation	1,092	1,091

At 30 June 2024 there were 1,141,513,946 (30 June 2023: 1,141,513,196) ordinary shares in issue, including 62,959,463 treasury shares (30 June 2023: 66,675,497).

Note

1Earnings is equivalent to profit for the period attributable to equity holders of the parent.

Analysis of cash flows

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Analysis of cash flows [Abstract]

Analysis of cash flows

The following tables analyse the net cash outflow from operating activities presented within the cash flow statement on page 3:

Net cash outflow from operating activities:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Profit for the period	246	149
Taxation	92	55
Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments	(35)	(25)
Finance costs	210	231
Finance and investment income	(74)	(103)
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	(16)	(1)
Operating profit	423	306
Adjustments for:
Non-cash share-based incentive plans (including share options)	56	76
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	81	84
Depreciation of right-of-use assets	110	129
Impairment charges included within adjusting items1	4	140
Goodwill impairment	—	53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Amortisation of other intangible assets	14	9
Impairment of investments in associates	23	11
(Gains)/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries	(8)	3
Gains on sale of property, plant and equipment	(2)	(1)
Operating cash flow before movements in working capital and provisions	758	846
Decrease in trade receivables and accrued income	430	1,090
Decrease in trade payables and deferred income	(1,055)	(1,612)
Increase in other receivables	(109)	(65)
Decrease in other payables	(337)	(509)
Increase in provisions	15	52
Cash used by operations	(298)	(198)
Corporation and overseas tax paid	(168)	(171)

Other interest and similar charges paid	(118)	(156)
Interest paid on lease liabilities	(47)	(49)
Interest received	69	108
Investment income	5	3
Dividends from associates	18	19
Earnout payments recognised in operating activities2	(1)	(1)
Net cash outflow from operating activities	(540)	(445)

Notes

1 Impairment charges included within adjusting items includes impairments for right-of-use assets, property, plant and equipment, and other intangible assets.

2 Earnout payments in excess of the amount determined at acquisition are recorded as operating activities.

Cash and cash equivalents and adjusted net debt

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Cash and cash equivalents and adjusted net debt [Abstract]

Cash and cash equivalents and adjusted net debt


	30 June 2024	31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Cash at bank and in hand	1,698	2,037
Short-term bank deposits	430	181
Overdrafts1	(184)	(358)
Cash and cash equivalents	1,944	1,860
Bonds due within one year	(1,017)	(588)
Bonds due after one year	(4,298)	(3,775)
Bond borrowings	(5,315)	(4,363)
Cash and cash equivalents less bond borrowings	(3,371)	(2,503)

The Group estimates that the fair value of corporate bonds is £5,041 million at 30 June 2024 (31 December 2023: £4,120 million).

The following table is an analysis of future payments in relation to the Group’s borrowings, on an accruals and undiscounted basis which, therefore, differs from the carrying value:


	30 June 2024	31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Within one year	(1,165)	(711)
Between one and two years	(138)	(535)
Between two and three years	(1,397)	(746)
Between three and four years	(742)	(726)
Between four and five years	(83)	(704)
Over five years	(2,956)	(1,859)
Bond borrowings (including interest)	(6,481)	(5,281)
Short-term overdrafts – within one year	(184)	(358)
Future anticipated cash flows	(6,665)	(5,639)
Effect of discounting and interest	1,166	918
Borrowings	(5,499)	(4,721)
Cash and short-term deposits	2,128	2,218
Cash and cash equivalents less bond borrowings	(3,371)	(2,503)

Note

1 Bank overdrafts are included in cash and cash equivalents because they form an integral part of the Group’s cash management.

Related party transactions

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Disclosure of transactions between related parties [abstract]

Related party transactions

The following amounts were outstanding at 30 June 2024:


	30 June 2024	31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Amounts owed by related parties	83	74

Amounts owed to related parties	(63)	(75)

Financial instruments - fair value

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [abstract]

Financial instruments - fair value

Financial Instruments - fair value


	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m
30 June 2024
Derivatives in designated hedge relationships
Derivative assets	—	4	—	4
Derivative liabilities	—	(57)	—	(57)
Held at fair value through profit or loss
Other investments	—	—	238	238
Derivative assets	—	2	—	2
Derivative liabilities	—	(4)	—	(4)
Payments due to vendors (earnout agreements)	—	—	(151)	(151)
Held at fair value through other comprehensive income
Other investments	7	—	67	74

Reconciliation of level 3 fair value measurements:


	Payments due to vendors (earnout agreements)	Other investments
	£m	£m
1 January 2024	(199)	325
Gains/(losses) recognised in the income statement	24	(20)
Losses recognised in other comprehensive income	—	(1)
Exchange adjustments	—	—
Additions	(1)	1
Settlements	25	—
30 June 2024	(151)	305

Contingent liabilities	6 Months Ended
Contingent liabilities	Jun. 30, 2024
Contingent Liabilities [Abstract]
Contingent liabilities	Contingent liabilitiesThe Group operates in a large number of markets with complex tax and legislative regimes that are open to subjective interpretation, and for which tax audits can take several years to resolve. The Group has received a number of demands and assessments from different states in India that have been or will be appealed to the courts, none of which are individually material. However, as permitted by IAS 37, the provision of any further information within this disclosure is expected to seriously prejudice the Group’s position in the dispute, given that appeals are ongoing. The Group continues to believe that we will be successful in our appeals, however any appeal process is intrinsically uncertain. There is no significant change to the contingent liability since the publication of the fiscal year 2023 Form 20-F on 21 March 2024.

Reconciliation of profit before taxation to headline operating profit

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Reconciliation of operating profit to headline operating profit [Abstract]

Reconciliation of profit before taxation to headline operating profit


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Profit before taxation	338	204
Finance and investment income	(74)	(103)
Finance costs	210	231
Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments	(35)	(25)
Profit before interest and taxation	439	307
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	(16)	(1)
Operating profit	423	306
Goodwill impairment	—	53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Impairment of investments in associates	23	11
Restructuring and transformation costs	131	87
Property-related restructuring costs	22	180
(Gains)/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries	(8)	3
Gains on disposal of property	(2)	—
Litigation settlement	—	(10)
Headline operating profit	646	666

Events after reporting period	6 Months Ended
Events after reporting period	Jun. 30, 2024
Event After Reporting Period [Abstract]
Events after reporting period	Events after the reporting period On 7 August 2024, the Group announced it has entered into an agreement to sell its entire majority stake in FGS Global (FGS) to Kite Bidco Inc., an entity controlled by investment funds managed or advised by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR), at an enterprise value of $1.7 billion. FGS, a leading strategic communications and advisory firm, is a constituent of the Group’s Public Relations operating segment. The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Costs of services and general and administrative costs (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Costs of service and general and administrative costs [Abstract]

Summary of Costs of Service and General and Administrative Costs

Costs of services and general and administrative costs include:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Staff costs	3,985	4,141
Establishment costs	242	272
Media pass-through costs	1,208	1,023
Other costs of services and general and administrative costs1	1,369	1,479
	6,804	6,915

Note

1Other costs of services and general and administrative costs include £420 million (period ended 2023: £387 million) of other pass-through costs.

2. Costs of services and general and administrative costs (continued)

Other costs of services and general and administrative costs include:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Goodwill impairment	—	53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Restructuring and transformation costs	131	87
Property-related restructuring costs	22	180

Segmental analysis (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Disclosure of operating segments [abstract]

Summary of Contributions by Reportable Segments

Reported contributions by reportable segments were as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Revenue1,2
Global Integrated Agencies	6,117	6,082
Public Relations	601	618
Specialist Agencies	509	521
	7,227	7,221
Revenue less pass-through costs1,3
Global Integrated Agencies	4,595	4,760
Public Relations	568	584
Specialist Agencies	436	467
	5,599	5,811
Headline operating profit1,4
Global Integrated Agencies	551	550
Public Relations	80	88
Specialist Agencies	15	28
	646	666
Adjusting items within IFRS operating profit4	(223)	(360)
Financing items5	(101)	(103)
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	16	1
Reported profit before tax	338	204

Notes

2 Intersegment sales have not been separately disclosed as they are not material.

4 A reconciliation from reported profit before tax to headline operating profit is also provided in Note 11.

5 Financing items include finance and investment income, finance costs and revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments.

Summary of Contributions by Geographical Area

Reported contributions by geographical area were as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Revenue1
North America3	2,781	2,744
United Kingdom	1,058	1,065
Western Continental Europe	1,458	1,477
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe	1,930	1,935
	7,227	7,221
Revenue less pass-through costs1
North America3	2,207	2,284
United Kingdom	779	796
Western Continental Europe	1,164	1,179
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe	1,449	1,552
	5,599	5,811
Headline operating profit2
North America3	336	287
United Kingdom	78	98
Western Continental Europe	117	111
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe	115	170
	646	666

Notes

1 Intersegment sales have not been separately disclosed as they are not material.

2 A reconciliation from reported profit before tax to headline operating profit is also provided in Note 11.

Earnings per share (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Earnings per share [abstract]

Summary of Calculation of Basic and Diluted EPS

Basic EPS

The calculation of basic EPS is as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
Earnings1 (£ million)	205	112
Weighted average shares used in basic EPS calculation (million)	1,075	1,071
EPS	19.1p	10.5p

Diluted EPS

The calculation of diluted EPS is as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
Earnings1 (£ million)	205	112
Weighted average shares used in diluted EPS calculation (million)	1,092	1,091
Diluted EPS	18.8p	10.3p

Summary of Reconciliation Between Shares Used in Calculating Basic and Diluted EPS

A reconciliation between the shares used in calculating basic and diluted EPS is as follows:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Weighted average shares used in basic EPS calculation	1,075	1,071
Dilutive share options outstanding	—	1
Other potentially issuable shares	17	19
Weighted average shares used in diluted EPS calculation	1,092	1,091

Analysis of cash flows (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Analysis of cash flows [Abstract]

Summary of Analysis of Cash Flows

The following tables analyse the net cash outflow from operating activities presented within the cash flow statement on page 3:

Net cash outflow from operating activities:


	Six Months Ended 30 June 2024	Six Months Ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Profit for the period	246	149
Taxation	92	55
Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments	(35)	(25)
Finance costs	210	231
Finance and investment income	(74)	(103)
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	(16)	(1)
Operating profit	423	306
Adjustments for:
Non-cash share-based incentive plans (including share options)	56	76
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	81	84
Depreciation of right-of-use assets	110	129
Impairment charges included within adjusting items1	4	140
Goodwill impairment	—	53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Amortisation of other intangible assets	14	9
Impairment of investments in associates	23	11
(Gains)/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries	(8)	3
Gains on sale of property, plant and equipment	(2)	(1)
Operating cash flow before movements in working capital and provisions	758	846
Decrease in trade receivables and accrued income	430	1,090
Decrease in trade payables and deferred income	(1,055)	(1,612)
Increase in other receivables	(109)	(65)
Decrease in other payables	(337)	(509)
Increase in provisions	15	52
Cash used by operations	(298)	(198)
Corporation and overseas tax paid	(168)	(171)

Other interest and similar charges paid	(118)	(156)
Interest paid on lease liabilities	(47)	(49)
Interest received	69	108
Investment income	5	3
Dividends from associates	18	19
Earnout payments recognised in operating activities2	(1)	(1)
Net cash outflow from operating activities	(540)	(445)

Notes

1 Impairment charges included within adjusting items includes impairments for right-of-use assets, property, plant and equipment, and other intangible assets.

2 Earnout payments in excess of the amount determined at acquisition are recorded as operating activities.

Cash and cash equivalents and adjusted net debt (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Cash and cash equivalents and adjusted net debt [Abstract]

Summary of Cash Reconciliation


	30 June 2024	31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Cash at bank and in hand	1,698	2,037
Short-term bank deposits	430	181
Overdrafts1	(184)	(358)
Cash and cash equivalents	1,944	1,860
Bonds due within one year	(1,017)	(588)
Bonds due after one year	(4,298)	(3,775)
Bond borrowings	(5,315)	(4,363)
Cash and cash equivalents less bond borrowings	(3,371)	(2,503)

Summary of Analysis of Future Anticipated Cash Flows in Relation to Group's Financial Derivatives and Debt

The following table is an analysis of future payments in relation to the Group’s borrowings, on an accruals and undiscounted basis which, therefore, differs from the carrying value:


	30 June 2024	31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Within one year	(1,165)	(711)
Between one and two years	(138)	(535)
Between two and three years	(1,397)	(746)
Between three and four years	(742)	(726)
Between four and five years	(83)	(704)
Over five years	(2,956)	(1,859)
Bond borrowings (including interest)	(6,481)	(5,281)
Short-term overdrafts – within one year	(184)	(358)
Future anticipated cash flows	(6,665)	(5,639)
Effect of discounting and interest	1,166	918
Borrowings	(5,499)	(4,721)
Cash and short-term deposits	2,128	2,218
Cash and cash equivalents less bond borrowings	(3,371)	(2,503)

Related party transactions (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Disclosure of transactions between related parties [abstract]

The following amounts were outstanding at 30 June 2024:


	30 June 2024	31 December 2023
	£m	£m
Amounts owed by related parties	83	74

Amounts owed to related parties	(63)	(75)

Financial instruments - fair value (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [abstract]

Schedule of Analysis of Financial Instruments Measured at Fair Value


	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Total
	£m	£m	£m	£m
30 June 2024
Derivatives in designated hedge relationships
Derivative assets	—	4	—	4
Derivative liabilities	—	(57)	—	(57)
Held at fair value through profit or loss
Other investments	—	—	238	238
Derivative assets	—	2	—	2
Derivative liabilities	—	(4)	—	(4)
Payments due to vendors (earnout agreements)	—	—	(151)	(151)
Held at fair value through other comprehensive income
Other investments	7	—	67	74

Reconciliation of level 3 fair value measurements:


	Payments due to vendors (earnout agreements)	Other investments
	£m	£m
1 January 2024	(199)	325
Gains/(losses) recognised in the income statement	24	(20)
Losses recognised in other comprehensive income	—	(1)
Exchange adjustments	—	—
Additions	(1)	1
Settlements	25	—
30 June 2024	(151)	305

Reconciliation of profit before taxation to headline operating profit (Tables)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Reconciliation of operating profit to headline operating profit [Abstract]

Summary of Reconciliation of Operating (Loss)/Profit to Headline Operating Profit


	Six months ended 30 June 2024	Six months ended 30 June 2023
	£m	£m
Profit before taxation	338	204
Finance and investment income	(74)	(103)
Finance costs	210	231
Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments	(35)	(25)
Profit before interest and taxation	439	307
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	(16)	(1)
Operating profit	423	306
Goodwill impairment	—	53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Impairment of investments in associates	23	11
Restructuring and transformation costs	131	87
Property-related restructuring costs	22	180
(Gains)/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries	(8)	3
Gains on disposal of property	(2)	—
Litigation settlement	—	(10)
Headline operating profit	646	666

Basis of preparation (Details)	6 Months Ended
Basis of preparation (Details)	Jun. 30, 2024	Jun. 30, 2023	Dec. 31, 2023
Basis of preparation [Abstract]
Model impact, revenue decrease	29.00%
Disclosure Of Foreign Currency Translation [line items]
Model impact, revenue decrease	29.00%
US dollar to Pound sterling
Disclosure Of Foreign Currency Translation [line items]
Average exchange rate	1.27	1.23
Closing exchange rate	1.26		1.27
Euro to Pound sterling
Disclosure Of Foreign Currency Translation [line items]
Average exchange rate	1.17	1.14
Closing exchange rate	1.18		1.15

Costs of services and general and administrative costs - Summary of Operating Costs (Details) - GBP (£) £ in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2024	Jun. 30, 2023
Costs of services and general and administrative costs include:
Staff costs	£ 3,985	£ 4,141
Establishment costs	242	272
Media pass-through costs	1,208	1,023
Other costs of services and general and administrative costs	1,369	1,479
Costs of services and general and administrative costs	6,804	6,915
Other pass-through costs	420	387
Other costs of services and general and administrative costs include:
Goodwill impairment	0	53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Restructuring and transformation costs	131	87
Property-related restructuring costs	£ 22	£ 180

Costs of services and general and administrative costs - Additional Information (Details) - GBP (£) £ in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2024	Jun. 30, 2023
Disclosure Of Information About Operating Cost [line items]
Goodwill impairment	£ 0	£ 53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Restructuring and transformation costs	131	87
IT transformation program cost	47	54
Restructuring and transformation costs in relation to the continuing restructuring plan	76	26
Property-related restructuring costs	22	180
Impairments loss recognized in property related costs	16	0
Additional impairment charges		6
Impairment loss right of use assets	3	102
Impairment loss recognised in profit or loss, property, plant and equipment	1	38
ERP System
Disclosure Of Information About Operating Cost [line items]
IT transformation program cost	27	24
Transformation Costs
Disclosure Of Information About Operating Cost [line items]
IT transformation program cost	19	15
Covid19 Pandemic
Disclosure Of Information About Operating Cost [line items]
Restructuring costs due to covid nineteen pandemic	8	7
Brand Names No Longer In Use
Disclosure Of Information About Operating Cost [line items]
Impairment loss recognised in profit or loss, intangible assets other than goodwill	£ 20	£ 2

Segmental analysis - Contributions by Reportable Segments (Details) - GBP (£) £ in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2024	Jun. 30, 2023
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Revenue	£ 7,227	£ 7,221
Revenue less pass-through costs	5,599	5,811
Headline operating profit	646	666
Adjusting items within IFRS operating profit	(223)	(360)
Financing items	(101)	(103)
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	16	1
Profit before taxation	338	204
Reportable segments \| Operating segments \| Global Integrated Agencies
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Revenue	6,117	6,082
Revenue less pass-through costs	4,595	4,760
Headline operating profit	551	550
Reportable segments \| Operating segments \| Public Relations
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Revenue	601	618
Revenue less pass-through costs	568	584
Headline operating profit	80	88
Reportable segments \| Operating segments \| Specialist Agencies
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Revenue	509	521
Revenue less pass-through costs	436	467
Headline operating profit	£ 15	£ 28

Segmental analysis - Contributions by Geographical Area (Details) - GBP (£) £ in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2024	Jun. 30, 2023
Disclosure of geographical areas [line items]
Revenue	£ 7,227	£ 7,221
Revenue less pass- through costs	5,599	5,811
Headline operating profit	646	666
North America
Disclosure of geographical areas [line items]
Revenue	2,781	2,744
Revenue less pass- through costs	2,207	2,284
Headline operating profit	336	287
United Kingdom
Disclosure of geographical areas [line items]
Revenue	1,058	1,065
Revenue less pass- through costs	779	796
Headline operating profit	78	98
Western Continental Europe
Disclosure of geographical areas [line items]
Revenue	1,458	1,477
Revenue less pass- through costs	1,164	1,179
Headline operating profit	117	111
Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa & Middle East and Central & Eastern Europe
Disclosure of geographical areas [line items]
Revenue	1,930	1,935
Revenue less pass- through costs	1,449	1,552
Headline operating profit	115	170
United States
Disclosure of geographical areas [line items]
Revenue	2,609	2,579
Revenue less pass- through costs	2,071	2,144
Headline operating profit	£ 316	£ 268

Ordinary dividends (Details) - £ / shares	6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
Ordinary dividends (Details) - £ / shares	Jun. 30, 2024	Jun. 30, 2023	Dec. 31, 2023
Interim period amount
Disclosure of Dividends [line items]
Dividends declared (pound per share)	£ 0.150	£ 0.150
Previous period final amount
Disclosure of Dividends [line items]
Dividends declared (pound per share)			£ 0.244

Earnings per share (EPS) - Calculation of Basic and Diluted EPS (Details) - GBP (£) £ / shares in Units, £ in Millions, shares in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2024	Jun. 30, 2023
Earnings per share [abstract]
Earnings	£ 205	£ 112
Weighted average shares used in basic EPS calculation (million) (shares)	1,075	1,071
EPS (pounds per share)	£ 0.191	£ 0.105
Diluted earnings	£ 205	£ 112
Weighted average shares used in diluted EPS calculation (shares)	1,092	1,091
Diluted EPS (pounds per share)	£ 0.188	£ 0.103

Earnings per share (EPS) - Reconciliation Between Shares Used in Calculating Basic and Diluted EPS (Details) - shares shares in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2024	Jun. 30, 2023
Earnings per share [abstract]
Weighted average shares used in basic EPS calculation (million) (shares)	1,075	1,071
Dilutive share options outstanding (shares)	0	1
Other potentially issuable shares (shares)	17	19
Weighted average shares used in diluted EPS calculation (shares)	1,092	1,091

Earnings per share (EPS) - Additional Information (Details) - shares	Jun. 30, 2024	Jun. 30, 2023
Treasury shares
Earnings per share [line items]
Ordinary shares in issue (shares)	62,959,463	66,675,497
Ordinary shares
Earnings per share [line items]
Ordinary shares in issue (shares)	1,141,513,946	1,141,513,196

Analysis of cash flows (Details) - GBP (£)
£ in Millions

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2024

Jun. 30, 2023

Analysis of cash flows [Abstract]

Profit for the period

£ 246

£ 149

Taxation

Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments

(35)

(25)

Finance costs

210

231

Finance and investment income

(74)

(103)

Earnings from associates - after interest and tax

(16)

(1)

Operating profit

423

306

Adjustments for:

Non-cash share-based incentive plans (including share options)

Depreciation of property, plant and equipment

Depreciation of right-of-use assets

110

129

Impairment charges included within restructuring costs

140

Goodwill impairment

Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets

Amortisation of other intangible assets

Impairment of investments in associates

(Gains)/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries

(8)

Gains on sale of property, plant and equipment

(2)

(1)

Operating cash flow before movements in working capital and provisions

758

846

Decrease in trade receivables and accrued income

430

1,090

Decrease in trade payables and deferred income

(1,055)

(1,612)

Increase in other receivables

(109)

(65)

Decrease in other payables

(337)

(509)

Increase in provisions

Cash used by operations

(298)

(198)

Corporation and overseas tax paid

(168)

(171)

Other interest and similar charges paid

(118)

(156)

Interest paid on lease liabilities

(47)

(49)

Interest received

108

Investment income

Dividends from associates

Earnout payments recognised in operating activities

(1)

Net cash outflow from operating activities

^[1]

£ (540)

£ (445)

[1]	This includes initial cash consideration for acquisitions (less cash and cash equivalents acquired) as well as earnout payments made. Earnout payments in excess of the amount determined at acquisition are recorded as operating activities.

Cash and cash equivalents and adjusted net debt - Cash Reconciliation (Details) - GBP (£) £ in Millions	Jun. 30, 2024	Dec. 31, 2023	Jun. 30, 2023	Dec. 31, 2022
Cash and cash equivalents and adjusted net debt [Abstract]
Cash at bank and in hand	£ 1,698	£ 2,037
Short-term bank deposits	430	181
Overdrafts	(184)	(358)
Cash and cash equivalents	1,944	1,860	£ 1,515	£ 1,986
Bonds due within one year	(1,017)	(588)
Bonds due after one year	(4,298)	(3,775)
Bond borrowings	(5,315)	(4,363)
Cash and cash equivalents less bond borrowings	£ (3,371)	£ (2,503)

Cash and cash equivalents and adjusted net debt - Additional information (Detail) - GBP (£) £ in Millions	Jun. 30, 2024	Dec. 31, 2023
Corporate bond
Cash Reconciliation [Line Items]
Fair value of corporate bonds	£ 5,041	£ 4,120

Cash and cash equivalents and adjusted net debt - Summary of Analysis of Future Anticipated Cash Flows in Relation to Group's Financial Derivatives and Debt (Details) - GBP (£) £ in Millions	Jun. 30, 2024	Dec. 31, 2023
Disclosure of maturity analysis for non-derivative financial liabilities [Line items]
Future anticipated cash flows	£ (6,665)	£ (5,639)
Effect of discounting and interest	1,166	918
Borrowings	(5,499)	(4,721)
Cash and short-term deposits	2,128	2,218
Cash and cash equivalents less bond borrowings	(3,371)	(2,503)
Borrowings
Disclosure of maturity analysis for non-derivative financial liabilities [Line items]
Bond borrowings (including interest)	(6,481)	(5,281)
Borrowings \| Within one year
Disclosure of maturity analysis for non-derivative financial liabilities [Line items]
Bond borrowings (including interest)	(1,165)	(711)
Borrowings \| Between one and two years
Disclosure of maturity analysis for non-derivative financial liabilities [Line items]
Bond borrowings (including interest)	(138)	(535)
Borrowings \| Between two and three years
Disclosure of maturity analysis for non-derivative financial liabilities [Line items]
Bond borrowings (including interest)	(1,397)	(746)
Borrowings \| Between three and four years
Disclosure of maturity analysis for non-derivative financial liabilities [Line items]
Bond borrowings (including interest)	(742)	(726)
Borrowings \| Between four and five years
Disclosure of maturity analysis for non-derivative financial liabilities [Line items]
Bond borrowings (including interest)	(83)	(704)
Borrowings \| Over five years
Disclosure of maturity analysis for non-derivative financial liabilities [Line items]
Bond borrowings (including interest)	(2,956)	(1,859)
Bank overdrafts \| Within one year
Disclosure of maturity analysis for non-derivative financial liabilities [Line items]
Future anticipated cash flows	£ (184)	£ (358)

Related party transactions - Additional Information (Details) - Associates - GBP (£) £ in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2024	Jun. 30, 2023
Kantar
Disclosure of transactions between related parties [line items]
Revenue from sale of goods, related party transactions	£ 5	£ 7
USA \| Compas
Disclosure of transactions between related parties [line items]
Revenue from sale of goods, related party transactions	£ 202	£ 112

Related party transactions - Summary of Related Party Transactions Outstanding (Details) - Associates - GBP (£) £ in Millions	Jun. 30, 2024	Dec. 31, 2023
Disclosure of transactions between related parties [line items]
Amounts owed by related parties	£ 83	£ 74
Amounts owed to related parties	£ (63)	£ (75)

Financial instruments - fair value - Fair Value of Assets and Liabilities (Details) - GBP (£) £ in Millions	Jun. 30, 2024	Dec. 31, 2023
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Other investments	£ 312	£ 333
Recurring fair value measurement \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Other investments	238
Recurring fair value measurement \| Held at fair value through other comprehensive income
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Other investments	74
Recurring fair value measurement \| Derivatives
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative liabilities	(57)
Recurring fair value measurement \| Derivatives \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative liabilities	(4)
Recurring fair value measurement \| Payments due to vendors (earnout agreements) \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative liabilities	(151)
Recurring fair value measurement \| Derivatives
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative assets	4
Recurring fair value measurement \| Derivatives \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative assets	2
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 1 \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Other investments	0
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 1 \| Held at fair value through other comprehensive income
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Other investments	7
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 1 \| Derivatives
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative liabilities	0
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 1 \| Derivatives \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative liabilities	0
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 1 \| Payments due to vendors (earnout agreements) \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative liabilities	0
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 1 \| Derivatives
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative assets	0
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 1 \| Derivatives \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative assets	0
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 2 \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Other investments	0
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 2 \| Held at fair value through other comprehensive income
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Other investments	0
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 2 \| Derivatives
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative liabilities	(57)
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 2 \| Derivatives \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative liabilities	(4)
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 2 \| Payments due to vendors (earnout agreements) \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative liabilities	0
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 2 \| Derivatives
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative assets	4
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 2 \| Derivatives \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative assets	2
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 3 \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Other investments	238
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 3 \| Held at fair value through other comprehensive income
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Other investments	67
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 3 \| Derivatives
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative liabilities	0
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 3 \| Derivatives \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative liabilities	0
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 3 \| Payments due to vendors (earnout agreements) \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative liabilities	(151)
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 3 \| Derivatives
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative assets	0
Recurring fair value measurement \| Level 3 \| Derivatives \| Held at fair value through profit or loss
Disclosure of detailed information about financial instruments [line items]
Derivative assets	£ 0

Financial Instruments - fair value - Analysis of Financial Instruments Measured at Fair Value (Details) - At Fair Value - Level 3 £ in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2024 GBP (£)
Payments due to vendors (earnout agreements)
Payments due to vendors (earnout agreements)
Beginning balance	£ (199)
Gains/(losses) recognised in the income statement	24
Losses recognised in other comprehensive income	0
Exchange adjustments	0
Additions	(1)
Settlements	25
Ending balance	(151)
Other investments \| Other investments
Other investments
Beginning balance	325
Gains/(losses) recognised in the income statement	(20)
Losses recognised in other comprehensive income	(1)
Exchange adjustments	0
Additions	1
Settlements	0
Ending balance	£ 305

Reconciliation of profit before taxation to headline operating profit - Summary of Reconciliation of Operating (Loss)/Profit to Headline Operating Profit (Details) - GBP (£) £ in Millions	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2024	Jun. 30, 2023
Reconciliation of operating profit to headline operating profit [Abstract]
Profit before taxation	£ 338	£ 204
Finance and investment income	(74)	(103)
Finance costs	210	231
Revaluation and retranslation of financial instruments	35	25
Profit before interest and taxation	439	307
Earnings from associates - after interest and tax	(16)	(1)
Operating profit	423	306
Goodwill impairment	0	53
Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets	57	36
Impairment of investments in associates	23	11
Restructuring and transformation costs	131	87
Property-related restructuring costs	22	180
(Gains)/losses on disposal of investments and subsidiaries	(8)	3
Gains on disposal of property	(2)	0
Litigation settlement	0	(10)
Headline operating profit	£ 646	£ 666