Three of the six publicly listed marcom holdings ended the week of 13–20 October higher. Dentsu recorded the biggest gain, rising 5.5%. Publicis ended at the same share price as a week earlier, while Havas fell 6.0% following its third-quarter results.

Company	13 Oct	20 Oct	Change
WPP (GBp)	394.40	395.20	+0.2%
Publicis (EUR)	100.95	100.95	0.0%
S4 Capital (GBp)	49.80	48.70	-2.2%
Dentsu (JPY)	3,630	3,830	+5.5%
Omnicom (USD)	78.49	81.11	+3.3%
Havas (EUR)	18.20	17.10	-6.0%

Dentsu

Dentsu rose from 3,630 to 3,830 yen. On 16 October, the European Commission approved a deal under which Dentsu Group and Itochu will jointly control Dentsu Soken. According to the Commission, Dentsu Soken's activities in Europe are negligible. At the end of August, Dentsu announced that the IT services company would become a joint venture with Itochu and be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Omnicom

Omnicom rose from $78.49 to $81.11 and will publish its third-quarter results after the New York Stock Exchange closes on Thursday, 22 October. Analysts expect earnings per share of $2.67 and revenue of $6.21 billion. This represents an increase of more than half compared with the previous year, driven by the acquisition of Interpublic Group.

WPP

WPP ended virtually flat, rising from 394.4 to 395.2 pence. Adam Gerhart has been appointed global chief client officer of WPP, reporting to COO Devika Bulchandani. He previously held the same position at WPP Media and was global CEO of Mindshare. In early October, WPP expanded its technology partnership with Kyndryl to support its Elevate28 transformation programme. The company will release its third-quarter trading update on 29 October. In the first half of the year, like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs fell by 4.7%.

Publicis

Publicis ended at €100.95, unchanged from the previous week. On 15 October, two analysts raised their price targets: Kepler Cheuvreux increased its target from €110 to €115, while Huber Research Partners raised its target from €106 to €110. Kepler maintained its buy recommendation.

Publicis reached an agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding its acquisition of LiveRamp. Publicis has committed to ensuring that LiveRamp remains accessible to other agencies and platforms on fair, non-discriminatory terms. Independent audits will monitor compliance.

Marketing Report previously covered the agreement between the FTC and Publicis. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

S4 Capital

S4 Capital fell from 49.8 to 48.7 pence. Martin Sorrell's company reported no news this week.

Havas

Havas was the week's biggest loser, falling from €18.20 to €17.10. On 14 October, Havas reported a 7.2% increase in net revenue to €703 million for the third quarter. Organic growth was 2.4%.

North America recorded organic growth of 7.5%, while Europe grew by 1.7%. Asia-Pacific and Africa declined by 6.7%, and Latin America fell by 4.3%. The company's forecast for 2026 remained unchanged, with expected organic growth of 2% to 3%.

Marketing Report previously covered Havas' quarterly results. Acquisitions contributed 3.2 percentage points to growth. Havas completed eight acquisitions in 2026, including Dutch company SportVibes.

Marketing Report Markets is an editorial analysis of share price movements in the marketing and communications sector and does not constitute investment advice.

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