Four of the six funds followed by Marketing Report closed higher on August 25 than on August 18. Dentsu Group largely recovered the previous week’s losses, while Omnicom hit a new yearly high. Only S4 Capital and Havas declined, with S4 Capital losing more than 8% in a single week.

Company	Aug 18	Aug 25	Change
WPP (GBp)	391.4	392.2	+0.2%
Publicis Groupe (EUR)	102.00	103.35	+1.3%
S4 Capital (GBp)	53.5	49.15	-8.1%
Dentsu Group (JPY)	3,504	3,641	+3.9%
Omnicom Group (USD)	86.31	88.20	+2.2%
Havas (EUR)	18.75	18.70	-0.3%

WPP

WPP was essentially flat overall, although the week was volatile. The ADR in New York rose almost 4% on August 24 to $27.39, close to its highest level in 12 months. Investors returned to the half-year results published on August 6, which showed a 4.7% decline in like-for-like net revenue, better than the company had forecast, and an operating margin of 8.4%.

Meanwhile, the legal case continues to weigh on the company. Former Motion Content Group chief executive Richard Foster is seeking at least $100 million in New York Supreme Court. His amended complaint, filed on August 13, includes findings from a Sony investigation into WPP Media’s media buying, including a repayment of around $110 million to Chinese clients in 2024 while $350 million remained in a rebate pool.

Publicis Groupe

Publicis gained 1.3%, reaching €104.10 on August 24, close to its yearly high. Its market capitalisation now stands at around €26 billion. The gains are supported by its half-year results, which showed 4.7% organic growth, an operating margin of 17.5% and an upgraded full-year growth forecast of 4.5% to 5.0%.

In addition, LiveRamp shareholders approved Publicis’ $2.2 billion acquisition of the company on August 17.

S4 Capital

The share price of Martin Sorrell’s company fell 8.1% to 49.15 pence, more than 90% below its 2021 peak. The decline follows a claim filed in Delaware Superior Court by three former directors of TheoremOne, the company S4 Capital acquired in 2022. Brady Brim-DeForest, William Jessup and David Kullmann are seeking at least $7 million in withheld escrow funds, as well as shares they claim were withheld. S4 Capital has declined to comment while the case is ongoing.

Dentsu Group

After losing 7.2% the previous week, Dentsu rebounded 3.9% to 3,641 yen. The market is digesting the restructuring plan announced on August 18. Dentsu plans to eliminate 70 to 80 international entities in fiscal 2026 and another 50 to 80 by fiscal 2028, for a total of up to 160. Global headquarters costs are expected to fall by around 30% by fiscal 2028, while operational cost savings are targeted to exceed ¥50 billion in fiscal 2027. For fiscal 2028, the group is targeting an operating margin of 16% alongside 2% to 3% organic growth. During the first half of 2026, ¥3.7 billion was invested in AI, data and technology.

Omnicom Group

Omnicom gained 2.2% and reached a 12-month high of $88.67 on August 24. Its market capitalisation is now above $24 billion. The group had previously raised its full-year outlook after reporting second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $2.65 on revenue of $6.6 billion. The integration of Interpublic has been completed. Omnicom has now paid a dividend for 56 consecutive years, with a yield of 3.66%.

There was also commercial news: Starbucks is replacing Edelman as its retained PR agency in the US with Chorus, part of Omnicom Public Relations. Later this year, the agency will take responsibility for corporate communications, consumer affairs and reputation management.

Havas

Havas was virtually unchanged, slipping 0.3% to €18.70. Between August 17 and 21, the company bought back 4,982 of its own shares at an average price of €18.69, as part of the €50 million buyback programme launched on May 13. Havas reported 2.5% organic growth for the first half of the year, between Publicis’ growth and WPP’s decline.

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

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