WPP PLC (WPP) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

(technical difficulty) Busy coming in for our preliminary results for 2024 and strategic outlook for 2025. Now the past year has been extremely busy, and it's thrown up both challenges and opportunities. But throughout this, we remain focused on executing our strategy to deliver long-term sustainable growth and through this value to our shareholders.

（技術難題）忙於了解我們 2024 年的初步結果和 2025 年的策略展望。過去的一年非常忙碌，既帶來了挑戰，也帶來了機會。但在此期間，我們仍將專注於執行我們的策略，實現長期永續成長，並透過此策略為股東創造價值。

I'm going to walk you through the key highlights. Joanne will then talk you through our financial performance, and I'll come back with GroupM CEO, Brian Lesser, to talk about the strategic progress we've made this year and is yet to come.

我將向您介紹主要亮點。然後，喬安妮將向你們介紹我們的財務業績，然後我將與群邑首席執行官布萊恩·萊瑟一起討論我們今年取得的以及未來將要取得的戰略進展。

We'll follow that by taking your questions. Now before I do that, I would like to make two points. First, to thank Tom Waldron, who's sitting here with us for his hard work for us over the past couple of years in leading our IR team and also welcome Tom Singlehurst, who's crossed sides to join us who's sitting in the front row, for those of you who are not here, he's here.

接下來我們將回答您的問題。在此之前，我想先講兩點。首先，感謝在座的 Tom Waldron，感謝他過去幾年來領導我們的 IR 團隊的辛勤工作，同時也歡迎從我們這邊過來坐在前排的 Tom Singlehurst，對於那些不在場的人來說，他就在這裡。

So before we start, we should just look at this cautionary statement and read that carefully. So turning to the highlights. Why we've achieved a lot in 2024. I do know that the main focus for many of you and actual has come up in the Q&A will be our net revenue growth, which came in at minus 1%, consistent with the lower end of our guidance range. We were conservative when we guided you at Q3.

因此，在開始之前，我們應該先看一下這個警告聲明並仔細閱讀。現在讓我們來談談亮點。為什麼我們在 2024 年取得如此大的成就。我確實知道，你們中的許多人主要關注的以及在問答環節中實際提到的是我們的淨收入增長，這一數字為-1%，與我們指導範圍的下限一致。我們在第三季為您提供指導時是保守的。

Now this performance does mask competing tailwinds and headwinds. Now I'd highlight a robust performance within our top 25 clients, which grew 2% and supported solid growth within media and production. On the other side of the coin, we did face challenging trends in China, an 80-basis point drag and the impact of historical client losses and weaker discretionary spend, particularly focused in the fourth quarter.

現在，這種表現確實掩蓋了相互競爭的順風和逆風。現在我要強調我們前 25 名客戶的強勁表現，它們成長了 2%，並支持了媒體和製作領域的穩健成長。另一方面，我們確實面臨中國市場的挑戰，80個基點的拖累以及歷史客戶損失和可自由支配支出減弱的影響，尤其是在第四季。

Despite this, we delivered a stronger headline operating margin at 15%, up 40 basis points year-on-year. And we did this and included within that GBP250 million investment in AI and data and incremental GBP30 million over the course of the year. We also made great progress in our strategic transformation infrastructure. Our investment in WPP Open and a stronger balance sheet.

儘管如此，我們的整體營業利潤率仍達到 15%，比去年同期成長了 40 個基點。我們做到了這一點，其中包括對人工智慧和數據的投資 2.5 億英鎊，以及全年增量投資 3,000 萬英鎊。我們的策略轉型基礎設施也取得了巨大進展。我們對 WPP Open 的投資和更強勁的資產負債表。

So if I'd say, up from what I think the three main takeaways were from what we achieved in 2024, there will be first strong strategic progress; second, better new business performance in the second half, I'd highlight those wins. And thirdly, better cash conversion, which I know something that's been on our shareholders' minds for some time.

因此，如果我想說，從我認為我們在 2024 年取得的成就的三個主要收穫來看，首先將是強勁的戰略進展；第二，下半年新業務表現更好，我要強調這些勝利。第三，更好的現金轉換，我知道這是我們股東關注已久的事。

And we do need to get this new business improvement back to where we want it to be to deliver growth where we need to be. So I'll come back to you shortly to discuss why we remain confident but let me firsthand over to Joanne to take you through the financial highlights.

我們確實需要讓這項新業務改善回到我們想要的水平，從而實現我們需要的成長。因此，我很快就會回來和你們討論為什麼我們仍然充滿信心，但讓我先把麥克風交給喬安妮，讓她向你們介紹財務亮點。

Thank you, Mark, and good morning, everyone. Let me take you through some more detail on our financial results for 2024, and I will start on slide 7. So like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs fell 1% for the full year 2024. At the end of Q3, our year-to-date like-for-like was a decline of 0.5%. Q4 performance was disappointingly soft and took our full year like-for-like to the bottom end of our guidance range.

謝謝你，馬克，大家早安。讓我向您詳細介紹我們 2024 年的財務業績，我從第 7 張投影片開始。因此，2024 年全年同類收入減去轉嫁成本後下降了 1%。截至第三季末，我們年初至今的年銷售額下降了 0.5%。第四季的業績令人失望地疲軟，導致我們全年的業績跌至預期範圍的底端。

Despite the softer top line performance, we delivered a 40 basis point improvement in headline operating margin to 15%, benefiting from structural cost savings and continued disciplined cost management whilst driving incremental investment in WPP Open in AI and in data.

儘管營收表現疲軟，但我們的整體營業利潤率提高了 40 個基點，達到 15%，這得益於結構性成本節約和持續嚴格的成本管理，同時推動了 WPP Open 在人工智慧和數據方面的增量投資。

We also improved our operating cash flow conversion to 86%, benefiting from strong working capital management. That, together with the sale of FGS Global resulted in year-end net debt of GBP1.7 billion, a GBP0.8 billion reduction year-on-year.

由於強大的營運資本管理，我們也將營運現金流轉換率提高至 86%。加上 FGS Global 的出售，導致年末淨債務為 17 億英鎊，比去年同期減少 8 億英鎊。

Turning to the headline income statement on slide 8. Overall reported revenue less pass-through costs was GBP11.4 billion, a decrease of 4.2% year-on-year. FX contributed to a 3.1-percentage-point drag with M&A, a further 0.1-percentage-point headwind, leaving a like-for-like decline of 1%.

前往投影片 8 上的標題損益表。報告的總收入減去轉嫁成本為114億英鎊，年減4.2%。外匯因素拖累了 3.1 個百分點，而併購因素又拖累了 0.1 個百分點，導致年減 1%。

Operating profit margin of 15% benefited from that 0.4-percentage-point improvement on a constant currency basis and was up 0.2-percentage-points on a reported basis. Maybe down the P&L, a reminder that income from associates excludes any contribution from Kantar in accordance with IAS 28 due to nil carrying value on our balance sheet.

營業利潤率為 15%，以固定匯率計算增長了 0.4 個百分點，按報告基礎計算增長了 0.2 個百分點。也許在損益表中，提醒一下，根據《國際會計準則第28號》，來自聯營公司的收入不包括來自 Kantar 的任何貢獻，因為我們的資產負債表上的帳面價值為零。

Net finance costs of GBP280 million increased during the year, reflecting higher interest rates following our successful bond refinancing in 2024. Our effective tax rate increased as expected by 1-percentage-point to 28% and noncontrolling interest of GBP87 million were flat year-on-year.

本年度淨融資成本增加了 2.8 億英鎊，反映出我們在 2024 年成功進行債券再融資後利率上升。我們的有效稅率如預期上升了 1 個百分點，達到 28%，非控制權益 8,700 萬英鎊與去年同期持平。

Headline diluted EPS of 88.3p was down 5.9% on a reported basis and broadly flat like-for-like. Consistent with our dividend policy, the Board has recommended a flat final dividend of 24.4p given a total dividend of 39.4p for 2024, which is in line with 2023 and represents a cash return to shareholders of over GBP420 million.

整體攤薄每股收益為 88.3 便士，按報告基礎計算下降 5.9%，與去年同期持平。根據我們的股息政策，董事會建議將末期股息維持在 24.4 便士，因為 2024 年的總股息為 39.4 便士，與 2023 年持平，相當於為股東帶來超過 4.2 億英鎊的現金回報。

Moving to slide 9 and the reconciliation between our headline and reported operating profit. Headline operating profit of GBP1.7 billion is adjusted for goodwill impairment of GBP237 million, which relates to AKQA and other smaller agencies. Reported gains on disposal before tax were GBP329 million, was GBP275 million arising from the disposal of FGS and the adjustment for litigation and other charges include GBP68 million relating to ongoing legal matters and claims.

前往投影片 9，查看我們的標題和報告的營業利潤之間的對帳。17 億英鎊的總營業利潤已根據與 AKQA 和其他較小機構相關的 2.37 億英鎊的商譽減損進行調整。報告的稅前處置收益為 3.29 億英鎊，其中出售 FGS 產生的收益為 2.75 億英鎊，訴訟和其他費用的調整包括與正在進行的法律事務和索賠有關的 6800 萬英鎊。

Finally, restructuring and transformation costs of GBP277 million includes costs relating to the creation of VML and Burson and the simplification of GroupM as well as costs associated with our ongoing ERP and IT transformation and property-related costs. As a result, our operating profit increased from GBP531 million in 2023 to GBP1.3 billion in 2024.

最後，2.77 億英鎊的重組和轉型成本包括與創建 VML 和 Burson 以及簡化 GroupM 相關的成本，以及與我們正在進行的 ERP 和 IT 轉型相關的成本和與財產相關的成本。因此，我們的營業利潤從 2023 年的 5.31 億英鎊增加到 2024 年的 13 億英鎊。

Moving on now to slide 10 and performance across our business. Global Integrated Agencies saw a like-for-like decline of 0.8% in the year. GroupM grew 2.7% in the full year with growth in Q4 of 2.4%. Across the second half, GroupM saw an improved new business performance with Amazon and J&J wins, and a successful outcome from the Unilever review despite some losses, including Volvo. Like-for-like for our global integrated creative agencies fell 3.9% in 2024 and was down 6.5% in the fourth quarter.

現在轉到第 10 張投影片，介紹我們整個業務的表現。全球綜合代理機構全年年減 0.8%。群邑全年成長 2.7%，其中第四季成長 2.4%。下半年，群邑的新業務表現有所改善，贏得了亞馬遜和強生公司的青睞，儘管包括沃爾沃在內的一些客戶遭受損失，但聯合利華的審查也取得了成功。2024 年，我們全球綜合創意機構的同類銷售額下降了 3.9%，第四季下降了 6.5%。

Almost half of the full year decline was driven by the loss of a healthcare client assignment in 2023 with further impacts from a challenging environment in China and the continued weakness in project-based work weighing on AKQA's performance. We saw continued strong performance from Hogarth with full year like-for-like growing mid-single digits.

全年幾乎一半的跌幅是由於 2023 年失去一個醫療保健客戶任務，而中國充滿挑戰的環境以及基於專案的工作持續疲軟也進一步影響了 AKQA 的業績。我們看到 Hogarth 繼續保持強勁表現，全年同比增長中個位數。

The step-down in performance in Q4 reflected weaker client discretionary spend as well as the lap of a particularly strong quarter for variable client incentives in Q4 2023. Turning to Public Relations. Like-for-like declined by 1.7% in 2024, which reflected 11 months of good growth from FGS offset by a mid-single-digit decline at Burson.

第四季業績的下滑反映了客戶可自由支配支出的減少，以及 2023 年第四季可變客戶激勵措施特別強勁的表現。轉向公共關係。2024 年同類銷售額下降了 1.7%，這反映了 FGS 11 個月的良好成長被 Burson 的中等個位數下降所抵消。

Burson's performance was impacted by the loss of a healthcare client assignments, a more challenging environment for client discretionary spend. The merger integration has gone well at Burson and has been a key focus area for that leadership team in 2024. And finally, Specialist Agencies saw like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs declined 2.3% in the year. CMI Media Group, our specialist healthcare media agency grew strongly, offset by declines at Landor and Design Bridge and Partners.

博雅的業績因失去醫療保健客戶業務而受到影響，這對客戶的可自由支配支出來說是一個更具挑戰性的環境。博雅的合併整合進展順利，並已成為 2024 年領導團隊關注的重點領域。最後，專業機構的同類收入減去轉嫁成本後，今年下降了 2.3%。我們的專業醫療媒體機構 CMI Media Group 成長強勁，但 Landor 和 Design Bridge and Partners 的業績下滑抵消了這一影響。

Turning to slide 11 on our performance by region. North America declined by 0.7% in 2024, with growth across automotive, TME and financial services, offset by lower revenues in healthcare and a tougher comparison for CPG. Revenues from technology clients across North America moved back to growth in the second half.

翻到第 11 張投影片，了解我們各地區的表現。2024 年，北美下降了 0.7%，其中汽車、TME 和金融服務業實現成長，但醫療保健業收入下降和 CPG 的比較難度加大抵消了這一增長。下半年來自北美各地科技客戶的營收恢復成長。

The United Kingdom declined by 2.7% in 2024, lapping a prior year mid-single-digit comparison. Our UK business was impacted by its higher weighting towards project-based work, partially offset by growth at GroupM and Ogilvy. And in Western Continental Europe, France, Spain, and Italy all grew during 2024. Our largest market, Germany saw a like-for-like decline of 1%, reflecting macro pressures and client spending in automotive and travel and leisure sectors in particular.

2024 年，英國經濟下降了 2.7%，與去年同期的個位數中段持平。我們的英國業務因專案型工作比重增加而受到影響，但群邑和奧美的成長部分抵消了這一影響。在西歐大陸，法國、西班牙和義大利在 2024 年均成長。我們最大的市場德國年減了 1%，這反映了宏觀壓力以及客戶在汽車和旅遊休閒領域的支出。

Q4 growth in Germany improved to 4%, partly reflecting a softer comp. The rest of world declined 2.6% in 2024 with Q4 declining 4.8%. This was largely driven by China, which declined 20.8% in the year and 21.2% in Q4, reflecting persistent macroeconomic pressures and client assignment losses.

德國第四季經濟成長改善至 4%，部分反映了較弱的年增速。2024 年世界其他地區經濟將下降 2.6%，其中第四季經濟將下降 4.8%。這主要是受中國經濟影響，中國經濟今年下降了 20.8%，第四季下降了 21.2%，反映出持續的宏觀經濟壓力和客戶任務損失。

We expect performance to continue to be challenging in China in the first half of 2025 with some improvement later in the year as we begin to lap easier comparisons from the second quarter. Slide 12 shows Q4 and full year performance across our client sectors. CPG grew 5.1% in 2024, but was down slightly in Q4, reflecting both weaker client discretionary spend and tougher comparator of low double-digit like-for-like in Q3 2024.

我們預計，2025 年上半年中國市場的業績仍將面臨挑戰，但隨著從第二季開始進行比較，今年稍後業績將有所改善。投影片 12 展示了我們客戶部門第四季和全年的業績。CPG 在 2024 年成長了 5.1%，但第四季略有下降，這反映了客戶可自由支配支出的減弱以及 2024 年第三季同店銷售額低於兩位數的低位比較困難。

The technology client sector showed further sequential improvement with growth increasing to 2.5% in Q4 versus 1.3% in Q3 with growth weighted to North America. Healthcare and retail sectors continue to be impacted by 2023 client losses in Q4 with the impact from those continuing to lessen. The automotive client sector declined 3.3% in Q4 with full year growth of 1.3%, reflecting the timing of client spend through the year.

技術客戶產業進一步連續改善，第四季成長率從第三季的 1.3% 上升至 2.5%，成長主要集中在北美。醫療保健和零售業在第四季度繼續受到 2023 年客戶流失的影響，但影響正在持續減弱。汽車客戶產業第四季下降了 3.3%，全年成長了 1.3%，反映了全年客戶支出的時間表。

Now the waterfall chart on slide 13 bridges our headline operating margin from 14.8% in 2023 to 15% in 2024, a 0.4-percentage-point improvement in constant currency. We are pleased with the delivery of structural cost savings from the strategic initiatives we undertook in 2024. And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the teams involved for their hard work in making these so successful.

現在，第 13 張投影片上的瀑布圖將我們的整體營業利潤率從 2023 年的 14.8% 提高到 2024 年的 15%，以固定匯率計算提高了 0.4 個百分點。我們對 2024 年實施的策略性措施所帶來的結構性成本節約感到滿意。我想藉此機會感謝所有參與團隊的辛勤工作，使這次活動圓滿成功。

Together, these initiatives delivered in-year cost savings of GBP85 million ahead of our original plan to deliver 40% to 50% of the savings in 2024. This contributed to 0.7-percentage-point margin benefit, and we are on track to deliver a full year annualized savings in 2025. Staff incentives were broadly flat year-on-year as a percent of sales and other savings resulted in a 0.3-percentage-point benefit to margin.

這些舉措加在一起，使我們在一年內節省了 8,500 萬英鎊的成本，提前實現了我們原計劃在 2024 年實現 40% 至 50% 的節省。這有助於提高 0.7 個百分點的利潤率，我們預計在 2025 年實現全年年度化節餘。員工激勵與去年同期基本持平，因為銷售額和其他節省的百分比導致利潤率提高了 0.3 個百分點。

The latter reflects actions taken across our back office to deliver greater efficiencies and to mitigate the impact of inflation. Overall, we saw a year-on-year reduction across our enterprise tech, our finance and real estate costs. These actions enable us to continue to invest in WPP Open AI and data with an incremental P&L investment of just over GBP30 million, representing a 0.3-percentage-point impact on margin.

後者反映了我們的後台部門為提高效率和減輕通貨膨脹的影響而採取的行動。整體而言，我們的企業科技、金融和房地產成本較去年同期下降。這些舉措使我們能夠繼續投資 WPP Open AI 和數據，增量損益投資略高於 3,000 萬英鎊，對利潤率產生 0.3 個百分點的影響。

Investment is focused on enhancements to tools as well as deployment across our teams and rolling it out to new and existing clients. And looking forward to 2025, we will continue to prioritize investment in WPP Open in AI and in data and our plans include GBP50 million of incremental cash spend.

投資重點是工具的增強以及在我們的團隊中的部署，並將其推廣到新舊客戶。展望 2025 年，我們將繼續優先投資 WPP Open 的人工智慧和數據，我們的計畫包括 5,000 萬英鎊的增量現金支出。

Slide 14 bridges the year-on-year movement on net debt, which ended 2024 at GBP1.7 billion, down GBP0.8 billion in 2023. Our adjusted operating cash flow before working capital was GBP1.3 billion. And with a very strong focus on disciplined working capital management, we saw a net year-on-year inflow of GBP117 million. We saw an outflow of GBP133 million, comprising the net impact of dividends from associates under two minorities and earn-outs of GBP97 million.

投影片 14 顯示了淨債務的同比變動情況，截至 2024 年為 17 億英鎊，2023 年減少了 8 億英鎊。我們的調整後營運資本前的營運現金流為13億英鎊。透過高度重視嚴格的營運資本管理，我們實現了同比淨流入 1.17 億英鎊。我們看到了1.33億英鎊的流出，包括兩家少數股東旗下聯營公司的股利淨影響和9,700萬英鎊的獲利。

Earn-outs increased due to accelerated payments in 2024 and against the prior year figure, which benefited from a one-off settlement. Net interest and tax contributed to GBP589 million outflow primarily driven by higher interest costs as expected, with cash tax broadly in line year-on-year. M&A spend was GBP153 million offset by disposals, which included the sale of FGS, which resulted in cash receipts of GBP163 million in late Q4. This excludes the tax on the FGS disposal, which will be settled in early 2025.

由於 2024 年付款加速，盈利有所增加，且與前一年相比，盈利有所增加，而上一年得益於一次性結算。淨利息和稅收導致 5.89 億英鎊的流出，主要由於預期利息成本上升，而現金稅收與去年同期基本持平。併購支出為 1.53 億英鎊，但被處置支出（包括出售 FGS）所抵消，導致第四季末的現金收入為 1.63 億英鎊。這還不包括 FGS 處置稅，該稅將於 2025 年初結算。

Cash dividends were GBP425 million, broadly consistent with the prior year with buybacks and other items amounting to an outflow of GBP14 million. Average adjusted net debt in 2024 was GBP3.5 billion compared to GBP3.6 billion in 2023. And the average adjusted net debt to headline EBITDA ratio for 2024 was 1.8 times, which was slightly down versus 2023.

現金股利為 4.25 億英鎊，與上年基本持平，回購和其他項目的流出總額為 1,400 萬英鎊。2024 年平均調整後淨債務為 35 億英鎊，而 2023 年為 36 億英鎊。2024 年平均調整後淨負債與整體 EBITDA 比率為 1.8 倍，較 2023 年略有下降。

And finally, from me, turning to slide 15, which sets out our guidance for the full year. Starting with like-for-like, we are guiding to a like-for-like range of flat to minus 2%. This does reflect a degree of caution in light of the uncertain macro environment as well as our expectation of the impact of net new business as we go through the year.

最後，請翻到第 15 張投影片，其中列出了我們對全年的指導。從同比來看，我們預計同比範圍將持平至下降 2%。這確實反映了我們在不確定的宏觀環境下的某種程度的謹慎，以及我們對全年淨新業務影響的預期。

We expect our like-for-like performance to strengthen over the course of 2025 with the H1 impacted by the runoff of historical client losses before recent wins fully ramp up. This will be reflected particularly in GroupM's performance in the first half.

我們預計，2025 年我們的同類業績將會增強，上半年將受到歷史客戶損失的影響，而近期的獲利將全面增加。這將特別體現在群邑上半年的業績上。

On profit, we expect to hold headline operating margin flat, excluding the impact of FX with the benefit of annualized structural cost savings and continued disciplined cost management offsetting that incremental investment in WPP Open, AI and data as well as the margin drag from the sale of FGS.

在利潤方面，我們預計整體營業利潤率將保持平穩，排除外匯的影響，但年度結構性成本節約和持續嚴格的成本管理將抵消對 WPP Open、人工智慧和數據的增量投資以及出售 FGS 帶來的利潤率拖累。

We continue to expect a reduction in our cash restructuring costs to GBP110 million versus GBP275 million in 2024 and adjusted operating cash flow before working capital of around GBP1.4 billion. So thank you, and I will now hand you back to Mark, who will take you through our priorities for 2025.

我們仍然預計，到 2024 年，現金重組成本將從 2.75 億英鎊減少至 1.1 億英鎊，調整後的營運資金前經營現金流將達到約 14 億英鎊。所以謝謝你們，現在我將把你們交給馬克，他將向你們介紹我們 2025 年的優先事項。

So thank you very much, Joanne. So at our Capital Markets Day just over a year ago, we framed our strategy as being based around these four strategic pillars. So let's look at the progress we made on each of these in turn.

非常感謝你，喬安妮。因此，在一年多前的資本市場日上，我們制定了以這四大策略支柱為基礎的策略。那麼讓我們依序看看我們在每一項上的進展。

On the first, AI, data and technology, 2024 was really about cementing WPP Open as a single technology vision, platform, and team. And I think it's a significant departure from where we've been historically where technology was often developed at an agency, sometimes even at an office level.

首先，在人工智慧、數據和技術方面，2024 年的真正目標是鞏固 WPP Open 作為單一技術願景、平台和團隊的地位。我認為這與我們過去的做法有很大不同，過去科技通常是在機構、有時甚至是在辦公室層級開發的。

This is allowing us to build a single platform that spans the whole company, integrates how we work and also how we work with our clients with great investment in WPP Open now at GBP250 million per annum we're seeing greater adoption with 33,000 people using it in December and increasing deployment in our clients.

這使我們能夠建立一個覆蓋整個公司的單一平台，整合我們的工作方式以及我們與客戶的合作方式，目前我們對 WPP Open 的投資為每年 2.5 億英鎊，我們看到它的採用率越來越高，12 月份有 33,000 人使用它，並且我們的客戶部署也在增加。

And I'd remind you, as Joanne pointed out that, that incremental investment came within delivering 40 basis points of margin improvement over the course of the year. And personally, I was every day showing CEOs and CMOs how it can transform their marketing efforts.

我要提醒你，正如喬安妮指出的那樣，增量投資在全年帶來了 40 個基點的利潤率提高。就我個人而言，我每天都在向執行長和行銷長展示它如何改變他們的行銷工作。

On the second pillar, the benefits of creative transformation are coming through for our clients with the top 10 clients growing 2.8% throughout the year, and the top 25 clients growing 2%, a tangible sign that our investment is bearing fruit. Media studio also played a crucial role in our Amazon, J&J, Unilever wins, three of the very biggest media reviews in the second half of the year. Now new business performance is the proverbial supertanker, but I do remain encouraged by the improved momentum in our efforts in the second half of the year.

在第二個支柱上，創意轉型的好處正在為我們的客戶帶來回報，前 10 名客戶全年增長 2.8%，前 25 名客戶增長 2%，這是我們的投資取得成果的切實標誌。媒體工作室在我們贏得亞馬遜、強生和聯合利華這三家公司下半年最大的媒體評論的勝利中也發揮了至關重要的作用。現在，新業務表現就像一艘超級油輪，但我仍然對我們下半年努力的改善勢頭感到鼓舞。

Now as you know, 2024 was a year of heavy lifting in terms of network consolidation and simplification, the third pillar, something that required a lot of effort and intensity from my leaders as well as patients from our clients and talent. The good news is this is now largely complete. Our top six networks now represent 92% of our pro forma revenue, and we have a much stronger and more integrated proposition for our clients.

如你所知，2024 年是網路整合和簡化（第三支柱）方面繁重工作的一年，這需要我的領導以及客戶和人才付出大量努力和精力。好消息是，這項工作現在已基本完成。我們的前六大網路目前占我們預計收入的 92%，我們為客戶提供了更強大、更整合的服務。

And when I look at our growth, while I cannot point to significant losses due to these combinations, I do believe that our teams are naturally more focused internally than externally, particularly in the first half of the year, and that naturally had an impact on our new business performance.

當我審視我們的成長時，雖然我無法指出這些合併造成的重大損失，但我確實相信我們的團隊自然會更加關注內部而不是外部，尤其是在今年上半年，這自然會對我們的新業務績效產生影響。

And finally, as Joanne said, we use these changes to deliver structural cost savings of GBP85 million, which helped to improve headline operating margin and cash flow and fund our investment in the business. The latter coupled with the sale of FGS, also brings year-end net debt down to 1.7%. Now as we turn to 2025, one of the most important message I want you to come away with is that WPP is leading in AI.

最後，正如喬安妮所說，我們利用這些變化實現了 8,500 萬英鎊的結構性成本節約，這有助於提高整體營業利潤率和現金流，並為我們對業務的投資提供資金。後者加上 FGS 的出售，也使年末淨債務降至 1.7%。現在我們即將邁入 2025 年，我希望你們能夠理解的最重要的訊息之一就是 WPP 在人工智慧領域處於領先地位。

We're excited about the prospect of AI, augmenting human creativity, carefully and systematically impacted, and we believe it will be an opportunity for us as a company. It's going to impact and augment our people's creative talent and make them more efficient and is going to deliver greater integration and grow the value of data that we have within the business.

我們對人工智慧的前景感到興奮，它增強了人類的創造力，並產生了細緻而係統的影響，我們相信這對我們公司來說是一個機會。它將影響和增強我們員工的創造力，使他們更有效率，並將提供更大的整合並增加我們業務中資料的價值。

Now our approach to AI is not based around activating data ID. It's about applying it to the end-to-end marketing process to deliver better returns to clients. It's worth taking a detailed look to see how this works in practice. Now to show how WPP Open will deliver greater efficiency and effectiveness. Let's look at how these three components, creative, production and media work together to integrate the end-to-end marketing process.

現在我們對人工智慧的方法不是基於激活資料 ID。它是將其應用於端到端行銷流程，為客戶提供更好的回報。值得仔細研究一下這在實踐中是如何運作的。現在展示 WPP Open 如何提供更高的效率和效力。讓我們看看創意、製作和媒體這三個組成部分如何協同工作以整合端到端的行銷流程。

Creative Studio is used by teams across the business to augment the creative process with AI. For example, and this is just some of the functionality, enables our team to take briefs, surface new insights, come up with different territories and test them in real time against synthetic audiences. These ideas then flow seamless into production studio, which automates how we can turn them into content in a way that's safe for brands and much, much faster.

整個企業的團隊都使用 Creative Studio 來透過 AI 增強創作過程。例如，這只是部分功能，它使我們的團隊能夠獲取簡報、提出新見解、提出不同的領域並針對合成受眾進行即時測試。這些想法隨後無縫地流入製作工作室，製作工作室可以自動地以對品牌安全且更快的方式將它們轉化為內容。

And finally, Media Studio those assets and automates the process of media planning and buying using AI to transform how media is bought with the ability to automatically plan media campaigns and optimize them in real time. And the real power comes when these three components work together. We're seeing a 29% improvement in productivity, an 86% reduction in delivery times and trillions more impressions evaluated using data. So how is this landing with our clients. And I think a really important point to make is that we like all our clients to adopt WPP Open, it's in no way a one-size-fits-all solution in reality.

最後，Media Studio 利用這些資產並使用人工智慧自動化媒體規劃和購買流程，從而改變媒體購買方式，並能夠自動規劃媒體活動並即時優化它們。當這三個組件協同工作時，就會產生真正的力量。我們看到生產力提高了 29%，交付時間減少了 86%，並且使用數據評估的印象增加了數兆。那麼這對我們的客戶來說效果如何？我認為非常重要的一點是，我們希望所有客戶都採用 WPP Open，它實際上絕不是一個放諸四海皆準的解決方案。

In practice, we need to meet our customers where they are rather than where we would like them to be. So here, we set out three examples of our largest customers who have embraced WPP Open. And it's important to note that how they've done that is different.

實際上，我們需要在客戶所在的地方與他們會面，而不是在我們希望他們在的地方。因此，我們在此列舉了三個採用 WPP Open 的最大客戶的例子。值得注意的是，他們的做法有所不同。

For client A, the adoption of Open has come across alongside a massive process of consolidation, moving from literally thousands of global suppliers to just one. Because of this, they are open to a transformative approach to creating custom solutions and embracing integrations has worked very well for them.

對於客戶 A 來說，採用 Open 的同時經歷了大規模的整合過程，從全球數千家供應商減少到僅一個。正因為如此，他們願意採取變革性的方法來創建客製化解決方案，並且採用整合方法對他們來說非常有效。

For them, WPP Open is increasingly being used to turn global ideas into local executions across different media from digital to retail. We've also built into the platform specific tools that allow them to create content for multiple partners in market.

對他們來說，WPP Open 越來越多地被用於將全球理念轉化為從數位到零售等不同媒體的本地執行。我們還在平台中內建了特定工具，讓他們可以為市場上的多個合作夥伴創建內容。

Our client B is much more focused on using WPP Open to standardize and consolidate its media, centralizing aspects of digital media to drive efficiencies. It's relied more heavily on the workflow capabilities of the platform and has seen strong early success. Encouragingly, it will be progressively rolling out the use of production studio alongside Media Studio in 2025 to bring media and production more closely together.

我們的客戶 B 更專注於使用 WPP Open 來標準化和整合其媒體，集中數位媒體的各個方面以提高效率。它更依賴平台的工作流程功能，並且已經取得了巨大的早期成功。令人鼓舞的是，它將在 2025 年逐步推出與媒體工作室一起使用的製作工作室，以使媒體和製作更加緊密地結合在一起。

So here, WPP Open is enabling technological innovation, and we're moving at the pace the client wants. Client C meanwhile is very focused on technology-led innovation. It's using WPP Open to create custom trained models, our brand brains, which are used on a self-service basis.

因此，WPP Open 正在推動技術創新，並且我們正在按照客戶期望的速度前進。同時，客戶 C 非常注重技術主導的創新。它使用 WPP Open 創建客製化訓練模型，即我們的品牌大腦，以自助服務方式使用。

They're increasingly seeing this as a managed service, but it's also making our relationship with them more sticky. Plus they are more focused on getting our input into strategy and planning as the CMO of that client said to me, I never want to see a piece of content where an agency creative was not involved. So it's a balance of AI and human creativity. That's why we talk about augmenting human creativity. And now we have the capability, it's about making sure we get our go-to-market right and meet the clients where they want to be.

他們越來越多地將此視為一種託管服務，但這也使我們與他們的關係更加緊密。此外，他們更注重將我們的意見納入策略和規劃中，正如該客戶的首席行銷長對我所說的那樣，“我永遠不想看到沒有代理創意人員參與的內容。”所以這是人工智慧和人類創造力的平衡。這就是我們談論增強人類創造力的原因。現在我們有能力了，關鍵在於確保我們能夠正確地進入市場並滿足客戶的需求。

And nowhere is this more important than at GroupM, where to be frank, we have not realized our full potential in the last 18 to 24 months. And key to closing the growth gap with our best-performing peers is making sure that we can leverage the full benefit of AI, data and technology at GroupM.

這一點對群邑來說最為重要，坦白說，在過去的 18 到 24 個月裡，我們還沒有充分發揮我們的潛力。縮小與表現最佳的同行之間的成長差距的關鍵是確保我們能夠充分利用群邑的人工智慧、數據和技術的優勢。

With this in mind, we ask Brian to join us today, and I wanted to introduce him properly before he talks to you about what plans are for GroupM . And Brian joined us, or I should say, rejoined us in September last year, having previously served as the Chairman and CEO of InfoSum. For those of you who don't know them, InfoSum is a leading marketing data company with experience with both client and media data and connecting the two.

考慮到這一點，我們今天邀請 Brian 加入我們，在他向大家介紹 GroupM 的計劃之前，我想先介紹一下他。Brian 加入了我們，或者應該說，去年 9 月重新加入了我們，他之前曾擔任 InfoSum 的董事長兼執行長。對於不了解他們的人來說，InfoSum 是一家領先的行銷數據公司，在客戶和媒體數據以及連接兩者方面擁有豐富的經驗。

Prior to that, Brian led Xandr, the advertising business, AT&T. What's also important is that Brian spent 10 years at WPP before leaving us to join AT&T. He was lastly CEO of GroupM North America. And before that was the brains behind the creation of Xaxis, the agency world's first programmatic buying platform and probably the first technology-led proprietary media business. And I know Brian extremely well, having worked closely with him back in 2007, when he joined WPP through the acquisition of 24/7 Real Media and I was responsible for that business at that time.

在此之前，Brian 曾領導 AT&T 的廣告業務 Xandr。同樣重要的是，Brian 在離開我們加入 AT&T 之前曾在 WPP 工作了 10 年。他最後擔任群邑北美公司的執行長。在此之前，他是 Xaxis 的創辦人，Xaxis 是全球首個程式化購買平台，也可能是第一個以科技為主導的專有媒體業務。我非常了解 Brian，早在 2007 年我們就曾與他密切合作過，當時他透過收購 24/7 Real Media 加入 WPP，我當時負責這項業務。

So I think you can see why we're excited for Brian to come back. He knows our business. He knows data and technology and the media business, both the buy side and the sell side. He's been with us for six months now. So we thought this will be a good opportunity for him to share his thoughts and strategy.

所以我想你應該明白為什麼我們對布萊恩的回歸感到興奮了。他了解我們的業務。他了解數據、科技和媒體業務，包括買方和賣方。他已經和我們在一起六個月了。因此我們認為這將是他分享想法和策略的好機會。

Thank you, Mark. Good morning, everybody. I'm Brian Lesser, Global CEO of GroupM. It's great to be here with all of you today. I'm excited to share GroupM's vision and how we're driving priorities to improve our offering. Today, I'm going to focus on two key areas. The first is GroupM's five strategic priorities. And the second is our data strategy. So let's dive in.

謝謝你，馬克。大家早安。我是群邑全球執行長 Brian Lesser。我很高興今天能和大家在一起。我很高興與大家分享群邑的願景以及我們如何推動優先事項以改善我們的服務。今天，我將重點討論兩個關鍵領域。首先是群邑的五大戰略重點。第二是我們的數據策略。讓我們開始吧。

Since rejoining GroupM, I've engaged extensively with our clients to understand their needs. The conversations have been insightful, and several key themes have emerged. Clients are asking, how can we drive effectiveness through AI and technology? How can we enhance efficiency through greater integration? What structure makes it easier for clients to work with us? To address these, we have taken significant steps, but above all, we remain relentlessly focused on client retention and growth.

自從重新加入群邑以來，我與客戶進行了廣泛的接觸，以了解他們的需求。對話富有洞察力，並提出了幾個關鍵主題。客戶問，我們如何透過人工智慧和技術來提高效率？我們如何透過加強整合來提高效率？什麼樣的結構可以讓客戶更容易與我們合作？為了解決這些問題，我們已經採取了重大措施，但最重要的是，我們仍然堅持不懈地專注於客戶的保留和成長。

Let's start with client retention. We are focusing on making client experiences more seamless and frictionless while delivering exceptional value. On the client growth and new business side, we are driving success through creating the most competitive offering backed by our investments in data and technology and leveraging the strongest global network with WPP's assets for multi-market advertisers.

讓我們從客戶保留開始。我們致力於讓客戶體驗更加無縫、無摩擦，同時提供卓越的價值。在客戶成長和新業務方面，我們透過創造最具競爭力的產品來推動成功，這些產品以我們在數據和技術方面的投資為後盾，並利用 WPP 資產為多市場廣告商提供最強大的全球網路。

We've seen early progress with recent wins, including Johnson & Johnson in the US retaining and growing the Unilever business in the US, expanding our relationship with Unilever globally and securing Amazon's global business outside of the Americas. Data, Technology and Open Media Studio were fundamental to winning and expanding with these businesses.

我們最近取得了一些初步進展，包括美國強生公司保留並發展了聯合利華在美國的業務、擴大了我們與聯合利華在全球範圍內的關係以及確保了亞馬遜在美洲以外的全球業務。數據、技術和開放媒體工作室對於贏得和擴大這些業務至關重要。

To drive change in these focus areas, I've defined five key priorities. First, data and technology. We are fearlessly embracing AI and technology with a future-focused Open platform designed for tomorrow. WPP Open and Media Studio from the backbone of this approach, and we're driving towards 100% adoption from our clients. This will enable our shift from ID to AI that underpins our data strategy.

為了推動這些重點領域的變革，我確定了五個關鍵優先事項。第一，數據和技術。我們正以面向未來的開放平台無畏地擁抱人工智慧和科技。WPP Open 和 Media Studio 是這種方法的支柱，我們正在推動客戶 100% 採用這種方法。這將使我們從 ID 轉向 AI，從而支撐我們的數據策略。

Second, people. We are up leveling our talent by investing in technical employees and workforce development, ensuring alignment with our clients' future needs. Additionally, within the global organization, I have restructured the team to focus on what's most important to our business by appointing four new roles focused on clients, growth, transformation and operations and market expansion.

第二，人。我們透過投資技術員工和勞動力發展來提升我們的人才水平，確保滿足客戶的未來需求。此外，在全球組織內，我重組了團隊，透過任命四個新職位，專注於客戶、成長、轉型和營運以及市場擴張，將重點放在對我們的業務最重要的事情上。

Third, innovation. We are entirely focused on innovation, introducing new proprietary trading models and next-generation media products. This will allow us to offer more performance to our clients at efficient prices, using our expertise, scale, and data capabilities to redefine industry standards.

第三，創新。我們完全專注於創新，推出新的專有交易模式和下一代媒體產品。這將使我們能夠以高效的價格為客戶提供更高效能，並利用我們的專業知識、規模和數據能力重新定義行業標準。

Fourth, collaboration. We're improving internal and external collaboration across GroupM and WPP integrating media, creativity, and production more effectively.

第四，協作。我們正在改善 GroupM 和 WPP 之間的內部和外部協作，以更有效地整合媒體、創意和製作。

And finally, fifth is our org design. We are further simplifying our structure to become a unified company with one voice to clients and partners. In 2024, we made significant strides in eliminating complexity, but we know that we have to be simpler and there is more work to do.

最後，第五個是我們的組織設計。我們正在進一步簡化我們的結構，以成為一家對客戶和合作夥伴發出同一個聲音的統一公司。2024年，我們在消除複雜性方面取得了重大進展，但我們知道我們必須更簡單，而且還有更多工作要做。

Now let's talk about our data strategy and AI because AI is fundamentally transforming our industry. AI is quickly becoming the norm in how we work. As Mark spoke about, consumers are engaging with AI in new ways, gaining a deeper understanding of its benefits and risks. As this shift happens, GroupM will fundamentally change the way we work, streamlining our media planning and buying via automation. We won't just react to this change; we will lead it.

現在讓我們來談談我們的數據策略和人工智慧，因為人工智慧正在從根本上改變我們的行業。人工智慧正迅速成為我們工作方式的常態。正如馬克所說，消費者正在以新的方式與人工智慧互動，並對其優勢和風險有了更深入的了解。隨著這種轉變的發生，群邑將從根本上改變我們的工作方式，並透過自動化簡化我們的媒體規劃和購買。我們不會僅僅對這種變化做出反應；我們將引領它。

The market is quickly moving from identity-based solutions to AI-driven connectivity. Here's what that means. We believe that data connectivity is more important than simply owning a database and the value of connectivity will only grow over time.

市場正在迅速從基於身分的解決方案轉向人工智慧驅動的連接。這就是它的意義。我們相信資料連接比僅僅擁有一個資料庫更重要，而連接的價值只會隨著時間的推移而增長。

No matter how many traditional IDs you own, it will never be enough. The real power lies in connecting data across publishers, partners, retailers, platforms, and clients and thoughtfully using our own first-party data assets in conjunction with the available data in the world. The future is about connecting disparate data sets to extract insights, create predictive models and drive performance.

無論你擁有多少個傳統身分證，都永遠不夠。真正的力量在於連接出版商、合作夥伴、零售商、平台和客戶之間的數據，並結合世界上可用的數據精心使用我們自己的第一方數據資產。未來是關於連接不同的資料集以提取見解、創建預測模型和推動效能。

Traditional ID solutions like those grounded in e-mail addresses only learn from overlapping data points, relying on outdated look-alike models that limit insights. Using technologies like federated learning, we can create shared knowledge and predictions across all of our partners without sharing raw data and activate via simple connector.

傳統的識別解決方案（例如基於電子郵件地址的解決方案）僅從重疊的數據點中學習，依賴限制洞察力的過時的相似模型。使用聯邦學習等技術，我們可以在所有合作夥伴之間創建共享知識和預測，而無需共享原始數據並透過簡單的連接器啟動。

It's a game changer. And as Mark mentioned, this will drive significant efficiencies in audience targeting and real-time campaign optimization, tailored to clients’ unique needs based on their own data maturity. By 2030, we'll be working with thousands of data partners to guide audience decisions.

這改變了遊戲規則。正如馬克所提到的，這將顯著提高受眾定位和即時行銷活動優化的效率，並根據客戶自身的數據成熟度量身定制滿足其獨特需求。到 2030 年，我們將與數千家數據合作夥伴合作，指導受眾決策。

The only way to harness that scale is by leveraging AI at every step of the process. No singular legacy database can manage that scale and complexity. 2025 marks a defining year for GroupM. Our strategic priorities, AI-driven data strategy and commitment to innovation will position us as the industry leader. With our unparalleled global capabilities and relentless focus on simplification, efficiency, and growth, we will drive results for our clients as true business partners.

實現這一規模的唯一方法是在流程的每個步驟中利用人工智慧。沒有任何單一的遺留資料庫能夠管理這種規模和複雜性。 2025 年對群邑而言是具有決定意義的一年。我們的策略重點、人工智慧驅動的數據策略和對創新的承諾將使我們成為產業領導者。憑藉我們無與倫比的全球能力以及對簡化、效率和成長的不懈關注，我們將作為真正的業務合作夥伴為客戶帶來成果。

Thank you for your time. I look forward to driving success together in the years ahead. Now I'll hand it back to Mark, and I look forward to taking your questions in the Q&A.

感謝您抽出時間。我期待在未來的歲月裡共同取得成功。現在我將話題交還給馬克，期待在問答環節回答大家的問題。

All right. So thank you very much, Brian. I'm sure there'll be a lot of questions for you in the Q&A, particularly on the refreshed data approach from ID to AI. So let me outline our priorities for 2025. And look, I need to start by acknowledging again that 2024 did not end quite as we wanted. And even if the minus 1% was technically in the guidance range, I know that it will be a disappointment.

好的。非常感謝你，布萊恩。我相信在問答環節中您會有很多問題，特別是關於從 ID 到 AI 的更新資料方法。那麼，讓我概述一下我們 2025 年的優先事項。而且，首先我需要再次承認，2024 年的結局並不像我們想像的那麼好。即使從技術上講-1%是在指導範圍內，我也知道這將會令人失望。

That said, we do need to look at the enormous progress we've made in 2024 in terms of the heavy lifting and network consolidation simplification and the step-up in data and technology and the progress we made on those financial metrics.

話雖如此，我們確實需要看看我們在 2024 年在繁重工作和網路整合簡化、數據和技術提升以及我們在這些財務指標上取得的進展方面所取得的巨大進步。

As I look at 2025, there are really three things that we need to do as a company, deliver on the promise of WPP Open, get GroupM back to growth and win more new business. And each of these are really related. The WPP Open, we need to push it harder. We're investing more, but we need to get all of our client-facing people using it by the end of the year.

展望 2025 年，我認為作為一家公司，我們真正需要做三件事：兌現 WPP Open 的承諾、讓群邑恢復成長並贏得更多新業務。而且這些其實都是相關的。WPP公開賽，我們需要更加努力。我們正在加大投資，但我們需要讓所有面向客戶的人員在今年年底前使用它。

I shouldn't underestimate the progress, though. I don't think there's many companies out there that have 40,000 of their own people using a proprietary AI platform every month. So that is an achievement. For GroupM, you heard Brian's plan. He has a great sense of urgency around data, around proprietary media, and around new business with a focus on the US.

但我不應該低估這項進展。我認為沒有多少公司能夠擁有 40,000 名員工，並且每月使用專有的 AI 平台。所以這是一項成就。對於群邑，您聽說過布萊恩的計劃。他對數據、專有媒體以及以美國為重點的新業務有著強烈的緊迫感。

And in new business, we need to continue to use WPP Open to deliver and improve our new business success. In the last year, we saw pitches with WPP Open at the heart having a 10% increase in success rate. This year, we don't want any pictures without it.

在新業務中，我們需要繼續使用 WPP Open 來實現和提高我們的新業務成功。去年，我們發現以 WPP Open 為核心的推介的成功率提高了 10%。今年，我們不想拍任何沒有它的照片。

And we need to unlock more integrated pitches with different commercial models, allowing us and our clients to share in the value we create and deal with some of the pricing pressures that we sometimes see. And finally, we need to do all of this with more efficient operations and strict capital allocation areas that Joanne is very focused on. Success on this will deliver our medium-term financial framework.

我們需要解鎖更多具有不同商業模式的綜合方案，讓我們和我們的客戶分享我們創造的價值，並應對我們有時看到的一些定價壓力。最後，我們需要透過更有效率的營運和嚴格的資本配置領域來實現所有這些，而這正是 Joanne 非常關注的。此項工作的成功將為我們提供中期財務框架。

And the central point is that while the fourth quarter performance is not where we wanted it to be, we do believe that the strategy we outlined this time last year is on track. Reflecting this, we remain confident in our medium-term targets, which are for the group to deliver 3% plus organic net revenue growth over time, achieve 16% to 17% margins while also delivering 85% cash conversion.

重點是，雖然第四季的表現沒有達到我們的預期，但我們確實相信，我們去年此時制定的策略正在走上正軌。有鑑於此，我們對我們的中期目標仍然充滿信心，即集團隨著時間的推移實現 3% 以上的有機淨收入增長，實現 16% 至 17% 的利潤率，同時實現 85% 的現金轉換率。

Now final word before we dive into Q&A. I'm extremely proud that the teams have worked very hard in 2024 across many dimensions, whether it's the creation, deployment of WPP Open, the integration of our major integrated creative and PR networks or the simplification of GroupM, I'm very grateful to them and to our clients for their continued trust and perseverance. Thank you. I'm excited about building on the hard work in 2025 and showing what we can do and delivering the benefits of creative transformation to our clients.

在我們深入問答之前，最後說一句。我非常自豪團隊在2024年在多個方面都付出了巨大的努力，無論是WPP Open的創建和部署，還是我們主要的綜合創意和公關網絡的整合，還是群邑的簡化，我都非常感謝他們以及我們的客戶對我們持續的信任和堅持。謝謝。我很高興能夠在 2025 年的努力基礎上再接再厲，展示我們的能力，並為我們的客戶帶來創造性轉型的好處。

Thanks for listening. With that, we're available to take your questions, which we do both in the room and on the phone. I think we'll do it sitting down and we'll start with, I guess, Adam Berlin.

謝謝聆聽。這樣，我們就可以回答您的問題了，我們可以在房間裡和透過電話回答您的問題。我想我們會坐下來討論這個問題，首先由亞當柏林 (Adam Berlin) 來發言。

I've got three questions if I can. I think the first question.

如果可以的話我有三個問題。我認為是第一個問題。

Can you introduce yourself?

能介紹一下自己嗎？

Adam Berlin from UBS. The midpoint of the guidance for next year is roughly the same as what you delivered in 2024. And I think everyone is a bit confused about why we're not going to get an improvement next year, given you did do better in account wins in '24 than '23.

瑞銀的亞當·柏林。明年的指導中點與 2024 年的指導中點大致相同。我認為每個人都有點困惑，為什麼我們明年不會取得進步，因為 24 年的帳戶勝利確實比 23 年更好。

China is a really easy comp and there are a few other things that kind of went wrong this year. Can you just give us a bit more of a breakdown, maybe by segment or just help us understand why you're not guiding for an improvement in organic growth? That's the first question.

中國確實是一場容易的比賽，今年還發生了一些其他不順利的事情。您能否按細分市場給我們更多的細分信息，或者只是幫助我們理解為什麼您沒有指導有機增長的改善？這是第一個問題。

Second, a similar type question on margins. How are you going to deliver flat margins with negative growth? Does that mean staff incentives are going to remain low again? What else is there that means we should believe that you can deliver the flat margins in that environment?

第二，關於利潤率的類似問題。在負成長的情況下，您如何實現利潤率持平？這是否意味著員工激勵將再次保持在低位？還有什麼理由讓我們相信您可以在這種環境下實現穩定的利潤率？

And, third question is you helpfully give this metric of average net debt divided by headline EBITDA to give us a kind of average leverage. And that number is still quite high in '24, but that's probably because the FGS revenue receipts went in there. So can you give us any guidance on where you expect that metric to be at the end of '25? Because I assume that's how you think of capital allocation.

第三個問題是，您可以用平均淨債務除以總體 EBITDA 這個指標來為我們提供一種平均槓桿率。而這個數字在 24 年仍然相當高，但這可能是因為 FGS 收入收據進入了其中。那麼，您能否給我們一些指導，告訴我們您預計 25 年底該指標將達到什麼水準？因為我認為這就是你對資本配置的看法。

Joanne, if you take those and then I will.

喬安妮，如果你接受這些，那我就接受。

Well, let me answer the last one first because it's easy. So our average leverage, we'd expect that to come down towards the midpoint of our target range, which is 1.5 times to 1.75 times. As you said, the FGS proceeds were received in December, so a very small impact on the average metric in 2024. On our guidance, we've guided to flat to minus 2%. And you're right, the midpoint is in line with 2024.

好吧，讓我先回答最後一個問題，因為它很簡單。因此，我們預期平均槓桿率將下降至目標範圍的中點，即 1.5 倍到 1.75 倍。正如您所說，FGS 收益是在 12 月收到的，因此對 2024 年的平均指標影響很小。根據我們的指導，我們將其指導為持平至負 2%。你說得對，中點與 2024 年一致。

As we think about the bottom end and the top end of that guidance, there's a couple of things to consider. Q4 was softer for us than we were expecting. We talked about softer client discretionary spend. And in the first couple of months of the year, the macro uncertainty has not improved.

當我們思考該指導的底線和頂線時，有幾件事需要考慮。對我們來說，第四季的情況比我們預期的要疲軟。我們討論了客戶可自由支配支出減少的問題。今年頭幾個月，宏觀不確定性並未改善。

If anything in the last few weeks, I think it's got more uncertain. And that makes us cautious, particularly in the first half from the perspective of project-based spend and client discretionary spend. And that's really reflected in that range on the bottom end.

如果說過去幾週發生了什麼事的話，我認為情況變得更加不確定了。這讓我們保持謹慎，尤其是從基於專案的支出和客戶可自由支配的支出的角度來看，上半年的情況尤其如此。這確實反映在底端的範圍內。

The second factor is our net new business. Look, we were encouraged by the progress we made in the second half on net new business. Net new business for 2024 was flat with 2023, but it was higher in the second half, so skewed to that second half. The important thing to think about net new business is the sequencing of that and how it translates to like-for-like.

第二個因素是我們的淨新業務。瞧，我們對下半年淨新業務所取得的進展感到鼓舞。2024 年的淨新業務與 2023 年持平，但下半年有所增加，因此偏向下半年。對於淨新業務，重要的是要考慮其排序以及如何將其轉化為同類業務。

So in the first half of the year, as I said, we will see a bigger impact from client losses, particularly in the first half of 2024 before we see the full ramp-up of some of those client wins. So some of those client wins, which were fantastic and will be great clients for us, will not start to ramp up until Q2. So I think that's important to think about those two levers in the guidance.

因此，正如我所說，在今年上半年，我們將看到客戶流失帶來更大的影響，特別是在 2024 年上半年，之後我們才會看到部分客戶贏得的全面增加。因此，有些客戶（對我們來說非常棒並且將成為優質客戶）要到第二季才會開始增加。因此我認為在指導中考慮這兩個槓桿很重要。

And at the bottom end, as I say, it assumes a more cautious macro perspective as we go throughout 2025. And it also assumes that we don't see continued momentum in our net new business, which we are expecting to. At the top end of the guidance, obviously, you see the flip of that.

正如我所說，在底端，它假設我們在 2025 年採取更謹慎的宏觀視角。並且它還假設我們的淨新業務不會像我們預期的那樣保持持續的成長勢頭。顯然，在指導的頂端，你會看到相反的情況。

The macro, I think, will remain challenging in Q1, but we start to see an improved improvement as we go through the year, and we continue to build on that net new business momentum. And the pipeline is healthy, and we've got many good opportunities. So that's really where we are on the guidance.

我認為，宏觀經濟在第一季仍將充滿挑戰，但隨著時間的推移，我們開始看到情勢的改善，並且我們將繼續鞏固淨新業務動能。而且管道很健康，我們有很多好機會。這就是我們真正的指導方針。

In terms of our margins, look, we've made -- I'm really pleased with the progress we made in 2024, and that was really driven, as I said, the structural cost savings, the back-office efficiencies, but we're also continuing to make progress on the commercial delivery that we talked about at the CMD.

就我們的利潤率而言，你看，我們已經取得了——我對我們在 2024 年取得的進展感到非常滿意，正如我所說，這實際上是由結構性成本節約和後台效率提高推動的，但我們也在繼續在 CMD 上談到的商業交付方面取得進展。

And that's enabled us to invest importantly in the Open AI data, and it's important that we continue to do that in 2025. Our guidance reflects the fact that wherever we land at the top line, we do expect to retain flat margins for the year. And I think we'll continue to get more progress on those efficiencies throughout 2025 to be able to fund that. You mentioned specifically staff incentives.

這使我們能夠對開放人工智慧資料進行重要投資，重要的是我們在 2025 年將繼續這樣做。我們的指導反映了這樣一個事實：無論我們的營收達到什麼水平，我們都預計今年的利潤率將保持穩定。我認為我們將在 2025 年繼續在提高效率方面取得更多進展，以便能夠為此提供資金。您特別提到了員工激勵。

Look, I think it's important to call out, 2024 was softer on the top line, but we held incentives flat as a percent of net sales and that's certainly not supporting the margin progress we made in 2024.

聽著，我認為有必要指出，2024 年的營收表現較弱，但我們將激勵措施佔淨銷售額的百分比保持在平穩水平，這肯定不利於我們在 2024 年取得的利潤率增長。

They're still low versus history, you are saying, will you disagree?

您說，與歷史相比，它們仍然很低，您不同意嗎？

They're low. If you take the last three to four years, we had max incentive payouts in '21 and a high level of incentive payouts in 2022. So they have come down from those highs, but I don't think it's an issue for us in terms of staff retention, and there are other ways that we look to reward our staff.

它們很低。如果你看一下過去三到四年，我們會發現我們在 2021 年獲得了最高的激勵支出，並且在 2022 年獲得了高水準的激勵支出。因此，他們的薪酬已經從最高水準回落，但我認為這對我們保留員工而言不是問題，而且我們還在尋找其他方式來獎勵員工。

I think just on the year, I'd say, as Joanne said, the new business pipeline is strong. I think there's a number of big opportunities. I do think some of the nature of those means they're taking longer to close than we would expect. They're quite complex, and there's lots of things that go on that are more complex.

我認為就今年而言，正如喬安妮所說，新業務管道非常強勁。我認為有很多重大機會。我確實認為，其中一些因素意味著它們需要比我們預期更長的時間才能完成。它們非常複雜，而且還有很多事情比這更複雜。

I think it's important to think about the client -- our growth, as I mentioned, our top 10 clients last year grew at 2.8%. Our top 25 grew 2%, and our top 50 grew 1.1%. So we are seeing good growth from our stronger clients. And I think we did guide to sort of -- we were cautious in Q3 about Q4 because we were concerned about the impact of project-related businesses. And I think that impacted you see through the numbers in the UK and some of our businesses.

我認為考慮客戶很重要——我們的成長，正如我所提到的，去年我們前十大客戶的成長率為 2.8%。我們的前 25 名成長了 2%，前 50 名成長了 1.1%。因此，我們看到實力雄厚的客戶實現了良好的成長。我認為我們確實對此做出了某種指導——我們對第三季和第四季持謹慎態度，因為我們擔心專案相關業務的影響。我認為這對您了解英國和我們的一些企業的數據產生了影響。

So I think it does need to be cautious in Q1, but I think we are -- we do see a lot of opportunities ahead all this year. And certainly, as a team, we're gunning for the top end of the guidance.

所以我認為第一季確實需要謹慎，但我認為我們——我們確實看到今年有很多機會。當然，作為一個團隊，我們正在努力達到指導的最高水準。

This is Adrien from Bank of America. So a couple of questions if you don't mind. To come back on the point about the cuts in discretionary spending in Q4, I think you noted CPG was flat in Q4 versus, I think, it was up 8% in Q3. We had the comments from P&G talking about reducing their fees to agencies because of greater in-housing. Is there a correlation between these two information?

我是美國銀行的 Adrien。如果您不介意的話，我有幾個問題想問。回到第四季度可自由支配支出削減的問題，我想您已經注意到，第四季度的 CPG 持平，而我認為第三季度上漲了 8%。我們聽到寶潔公司的評論，他們表示由於內部業務的增加，將減少向代理商收取的費用。這兩個訊息之間有關聯嗎？

Secondly, perhaps for Brian, you talked about not necessarily owning traditional ID, but more moving into AI. Do you think WPP needs to make an acquisition or investment into a data set like your competitors have done?

其次，也許對於 Brian 來說，您談到的不一定是擁有傳統的 ID，而是更多地轉向 AI。您是否認為 WPP 需要像您的競爭對手一樣對資料集進行收購或投資？

And then to come back on the second half story, how much of that is based around existing new business? And how much is it based around new business that you think you're going to gain?

然後回到故事的後半部分，其中有多少是基於現有的新業務？您認為您將獲得多少基於新業務的收入？

Why don't you take the first and third question? Joanne, and then Brian.

為什麼不回答第一個和第三個問題？喬安妮，然後是布萊恩。

Okay. So again, I'll start with your third question, Adrien, thank you for the questions. On the second half, so we've talked about strengthening performance through the second half. And really, there's a couple of factors within that. China will start to lap softer comps in Q2.

好的。因此，我再次從你的第三個問題開始，阿德里安，謝謝你的提問。關於下半年，我們討論如何加強下半年的表現。事實上，這其中有幾個因素。中國將在第二季開始遭遇疲軟的同店銷售額。

And also that sequencing of net new business that you asked about, I would expect it to be an improvement in H2 based on existing net new business. And so as I talked about, those existing losses will hit really from Q1 and some of those wins will only really ramp up from Q2. So we'll see an improved performance in H2 as a result of that.

另外，關於您詢問的淨新業務排序，我預計在現有淨新業務的基礎上，下半年會有所改善。正如我所說的，這些現有的損失將從第一季開始真正產生影響，而其中一些收益將從第二季開始真正增加。因此，我們將看到 H2 的性能有所提升。

In terms of CPG, look, in 2024, we delivered mid-single-digit growth in CPG. And it's our largest sector, we would expect to see continued growth in 2025. I think again that growth will be weighted probably to the second half. And what we are seeing in Q4 was about over 50% of that impact was really driven by some of the factors that we've seen earlier in the year, but also that variable incentive that I talked about really impacted that CPG sector.

就 CPG 而言，到 2024 年，我們的 CPG 將實現中等個位數成長。這是我們最大的產業，我們預計 2025 年將繼續成長。我再次認為，成長可能將主要集中在下半年。我們在第四季度看到的情況是，超過 50% 的影響實際上是由我們在今年早些時候看到的一些因素驅動的，而且我談到的可變激勵確實影響了 CPG 行業。

And so I would consider that a one-off. As we go into Q1 and Q2, I think we've seen mixed comments from CPG clients. I think -- and that's reflected perhaps in some of the softer discretionary spend that we saw in Q4. But they are -- many of our clients are talking about continue to invest in their brands, the importance of A&P. And so it's a very long sector for us.

所以我認為這是一次性的。隨著我們進入第一季和第二季度，我認為我們看到了來自 CPG 客戶的褒貶不一的評論。我認為——這或許反映在我們在第四季看到的一些較弱的可自由支配支出中。但是——我們的許多客戶都在談論繼續投資他們的品牌以及 A&P 的重要性。所以這對我們來說是一個非常漫長的領域。

In terms of the in-housing and Brian may want to add on this, I think some companies that are talking about in-housing around marketing services and the extent of that is probably an outlier. I think if anything, and Mark quoted a client in his script today, I think we're seeing less of a risk from in-housing as a result of AI and what clients are looking to do is more marketing transformation, more integrated services, working with agencies to help them do that. And we see that as an opportunity.

關於內部化，布萊恩可能想補充一點，我認為一些公司正在談論圍繞行銷服務的內部化，而其程度可能是一個異常值。我認為，如果有的話，馬克今天在他的腳本中引用了一位客戶的話，我認為由於人工智慧，我們看到內部化的風險越來越小，而客戶希望做的是更多的行銷轉型、更多的綜合服務，與代理商合作來幫助他們做到這一點。我們認為這是一個機會。

Of course, there's always areas of their marketing services that will make sense for them to in-house, but we're not seeing that as an overriding risk for our business.

當然，他們的行銷服務中總有一些領域適合他們內部完成，但我們不認為這會對我們的業務造成太大的風險。

Yes, Adrien, on the question of whether we need to buy a database. I think it's important to understand that the world of advertising is shifting from the notion that you have to ground everything into a traditional CRM database to a world where you can build predictive models using more sources of data and disparate sources of data and data that's not available to a traditional CRM database.

是的，Adrien，關於我們是否需要購買資料庫的問題。我認為，重要的是要理解廣告業正在從必須將所有內容放入傳統 CRM 資料庫的觀念轉變為可以使用更多資料來源、不同資料來源以及傳統 CRM 資料庫無法獲得的資料來建立預測模型的世界。

So we're very focused on moving from ID to AI. And what I mean by that is if all you ever do is ground something in a cookie or an e-mail address or a mobile ID, then you're severely limiting your view of consumer behavior across an increasingly complex and fragmented marketplace.

因此，我們非常注重從 ID 轉向 AI。我的意思是，如果你所做的只是將某些東西嵌入 cookie 或電子郵件地址或行動 ID，那麼你將嚴重限制自己對日益複雜和分散的市場中的消費者行為的觀察。

Data in the CRM database is not going to help you with TikTok or Meta. We have proprietary data at WPP, and that's important. And I'm not saying that having data is not important, but what's just as important, if not more important, is having the technology and the modeling capabilities to build predictive performance at scale to really meet consumers where they are in this fragmenting landscape.

CRM 資料庫中的資料不會幫助您使用 TikTok 或 Meta。我們在 WPP 擁有專有數據，這很重要。我並不是說擁有數據不重要，但同樣重要（如果不是更重要的話）的是擁有技術和建模能力，以便大規模地建立預測性能，真正滿足消費者在這個分散的環境中的需求。

So of course, we're constantly looking at what we can acquire in terms of building out that model, but no, we're not focused on a legacy database at the moment.

因此，當然，我們會不斷尋找在建立該模型方面可以獲得什麼，但是，我們目前並不關注遺留資料庫。

Steve?

史蒂夫？

Steve Liechti from Deutsche Numis. First question, a few parts really. Just looking back on fiscal '24, just to help us, can you just remind us of the building blocks of the drags that were there and the nine months figures, I think we sort of talked about various things. So I'm thinking in terms of new business, you said the new business, net-net was about neutral at the nine months on a kind of pro forma basis. So what would it be at the 12-month period?

來自 Deutsche Numis 的 Steve Liechti。第一個問題，實際上分為幾個部分。回顧 24 財年，為了幫助我們，您能否提醒我們當時存在的拖累因素以及前九個月的數據，我想我們談論了各種各樣的事情。因此，我從新業務的角度進行思考，您說新業務的淨額在九個月內以某種形式呈現中性。那麼 12 個月後會是怎麼樣呢？

And also just remind us in terms of what the drag in like-for-like for China and tech was specifically. We can kind of work it out, but just helpful to get your insights there. And then finally, just a question for Brian. In terms of the plan to move to where you want to move to, I know it's -- everything is changing fast. But kind of where are you in that journey in terms of your go-to-market? When do you think your go-to-market strategy will be absolutely right for what you want to do?

另外，請提醒我們，中國和科技業的年減具體是什麼。我們可以解決這個問題，但這只是為了幫助您了解情況。最後，我只想問布萊恩一個問題。關於搬到你想去的地方的計劃，我知道一切都在快速變化。但是，就進入市場而言，您目前處於什麼階段？您認為什麼時候您的市場進入策略才會完全適合您想要做的事情？

So I just start with the first one. So thanks for the question, Steve. Look, there were three factors that weighed on 2024, and we've talked about those consistently through the year. The first was net new business and client losses, the largest being the healthcare client assignment, which we talked about as having around a 1% like-for-like impact in 2024. That will be fully rolled off by Q2.

所以我從第一個開始。謝謝你的提問，史蒂夫。你看，有三個因素影響 2024 年，我們全年都在討論這些因素。首先是淨新業務和客戶損失，其中最大的損失是醫療保健客戶任務，我們談到它在 2024 年的同類影響約為 1%。這將在第二季度全面完成。

Second factor you talked about is China. China was an 80-basis point drag for the full year 2024. As we go into 2025, we start to lap softer comps from Q2 for China. I would expect China to continue to be a challenge in H1, Q1 in particular and then potentially stabilizing in the second half, and that's reflected in our guidance. And the third factor we talked about was this project-based spend.

您談到的第二個因素是中國。中國將對2024年全年造成80個基點的拖累。隨著我們進入 2025 年，我們從第二季開始了解到中國市場的疲軟表現。我預期中國經濟將在上半年，尤其是第一季將繼續面臨挑戰，但下半年可能會趨於穩定，這反映在我們的預期中。我們討論的第三個因素是基於項目的支出。

And that impacted agencies like AKQA, Landor and Design Bridge, and that was also about an 80-basis point drag. So overall, those three factors were about a 250-basis point drag in 2024. I think in net new business, the comment that you're referring to is we've said in the past in a good and bad year, net new business can be plus/minus 1.5%.

這對 AKQA、Landor 和 Design Bridge 等機構產生了影響，也造成了約 80 個基點的拖累。因此總體而言，這三個因素將在 2024 年造成約 250 個基點的拖累。我認為，在淨新業務方面，您所指的評論是我們過去所說的，無論是好年份還是壞年份，淨新業務的增幅都可能在正負 1.5% 之間。

I think we were asked in Q3 about will it be net neutral going into 2025. And I think as I've explained, I think we'll see a different impact in H1 versus H2, so I think a drag in H1 and more positive in H2.

我認為我們在第三季被問到 2025 年是否會實現網路中立。我認為，正如我已經解釋過的，我們會看到 H1 和 H2 的影響有所不同，因此我認為 H1 會產生拖累，而 H2 會產生更積極的影響。

Sorry, can I just go back on that particular point. So if we were neutral at the nine-month figures, are we still neutral at the fiscal '24 year-end? And I understand your point about the phasing. But on a (technical difficulty) I'm asking what happened in the fourth quarter?

抱歉，我可以回到剛才那個問題嗎？那麼，如果我們對前九個月的數據持中立態度，那麼在 24 財年末我們是否仍然持中立態度？我理解您關於分階段的觀點。但出於（技術困難）我想問一下第四季發生了什麼事？

So look, I think it's -- if we talked about GBP4.5 billion net new business in 2024, which was consistent with 2023, that was more weighted to the second half. It doesn't -- I'd love it to, but it doesn't translate right through to like-for-like in the same way every year. So it's a sequencing of those losses and wins that impact. And so in Q4, we had some great wins. We also had a loss.

所以，我認為——如果我們談論的是 2024 年 45 億英鎊的淨新業務，與 2023 年一致，那麼下半年的權重更大。事實並非如此——我很樂意這樣做，但這並不意味著每年都能以相同的方式實現同比。因此，這些失敗和勝利的順序會產生影響。因此在第四季度，我們取得了一些重大勝利。我們也遭受了損失。

So I think it's broadly similar to where we were at the end of Q3.

所以我認為這與第三季末的情況大致相似。

In terms of where we are on our journey and when we'll be sort of satisfied with our go-to-market, we have some more work to do in terms of simplifying the GroupM organization. Our client expectation is that we bring them the best of the group in every engagement. But we're -- in terms of our go-to-market, we're there now. I mean we are competing effectively. We are winning pitches.

就我們目前的進展以及何時對市場進入感到滿意而言，我們在簡化群邑組織方面還有很多工作要做。我們的客戶期望我們在每次合作中為他們提供最好的服務。但就我們的市場進入而言，我們現在已經達到了這個水平。我的意思是我們正在有效競爭。我們正在贏得勝利。

We are building businesses with our clients. We have everything we need to compete, win, and retain clients now. The only constant in this industry is change. So you'll see us evolve, but that's the expectation of our clients.

我們正在與客戶建立業務。我們現在擁有競爭、贏得和留住客戶所需的一切。這個行業唯一不變的就是變化。所以你會看到我們在不斷發展，但這也是我們客戶的期望。

t's Joe Thomas from HSBC. Three from me as well, please. The first thing is the AI investment and the step-up. Just what's the thinking behind the need to do that? And is it OpEx or CapEx? And how is that changing?

他是匯豐銀行的喬·托馬斯。我也請你給我三份。首先是人工智慧的投資和提升。這樣做的背後究竟是出於什麼考量？它是 OpEx 還是 CapEx？那麼，情況是如何改變的呢？

Second thing, Brian, if I could ask you sort of the same question in a slightly different way. There's been a lot of debate about what was wrong with GroupM in the past. You've talked about what you're doing right now, but perhaps you could identify what you think was wrong there? And fundamentally, how that's changing? I know you put your five priorities up on the screen.

第二件事，布萊恩，如果我可以用稍微不同的方式問你同樣的問題。關於群邑過去存在的問題，存在著許多爭論。您已經談到了您現在正在做的事情，但也許您可以指出您認為其中存在什麼問題？從根本上來說，這種情況正在發生怎樣的變化？我知道您在螢幕上列出了您的五個優先事項。

And then finally, a question on the interest -- the changing interest line this year. The guidance has gone up a bit. What has moved there to do that really?

最後，關於今年利率變化的問題。指導價略有上升。那裡究竟發生了什麼事？

Why don't I just start on the AI question. I think if you look at where we come from, we acquired Satalia in 2022. It was an AI research company at the time it had 100 people. It today has 300 people and it's actually selling work externally, but many people are working on our own platform. So we've used an acquisition to build an important capability.

我為什麼不直接開始討論人工智慧問題呢？我想如果你看看我們的起源，我們在 2022 年收購了 Satalia。當時它是一家擁有 100 名員工的人工智慧研究公司。它現在有 300 名員工，實際上正在向外部銷售作品，但也有許多人在我們自己的平台上工作。因此，我們利用收購來建構一項重要能力。

I think we're seeing it resonate to such a degree with clients that we know we need to invest more, and it's about getting the right balance between margin improvement and growth. And if I think about the financial metrics for '24, so top line disappointing, okay. No, I'm not going to argue with that. We did flag Q4 a little bit for Q3. But I think even there, the decline in project (technical difficulty) will be a bit more intense than we expected in Q3.

我認為我們看到它與客戶產生瞭如此程度的共鳴，以至於我們知道我們需要投入更多，而這需要在利潤率提高和成長之間取得適當的平衡。如果我考慮 24 年的財務指標，那麼總體來說確實令人失望。不，我不想爭論這一點。我們確實對 Q3 做了一些 Q4 標記。但我認為即使如此，專案（技術難度）的下降也會比我們預期的第三季更為劇烈。

But I think if I look at the margin improvement, we delivered 40 basis points, holding the incentive and a 30-basis point investment in WPP Open. So we are becoming a more efficient and effective company. So the restructuring is bearing fruit. And we're using that to invest in WPP Open in '24. Now we don't think about the margin guidance in '25, we're saying we're going to hold it flat despite some pressure in the guidance on our top line.

但我認為，如果看一下利潤率的提高，我們實現了 40 個基點的利潤，持有激勵措施並對 WPP Open 進行了 30 個基點的投資。因此，我們正在成為一家更有效率、更有效的公司。因此，重組正在取得成果。我們將利用這筆資金在 24 年投資 WPP Open。現在我們不考慮 25 年的利潤率指導，我們說儘管我們的營收指導面臨一些壓力，但我們會保持利潤率穩定。

Now what would happen? Some of the savings from '24 will flow through on an annualized basis in '25, so that will help. We're increasing the investment in AI by sort of similar amount because we think that it will bear fruit in our new business performance.

現在會發生什麼事？24 年節省下來的部分資金將在 25 年按年率計算到賬，因此這將有所幫助。我們正在增加對人工智慧的投資，金額大致相同，因為我們認為它將為我們的新業務表現帶來成果。

And what we don't want to do is cut the investment in the business to stop the growth. So I think that is very much the approach that we're taking. And I think the increase in investment is less about -- is more about because we see the opportunity, then less about we feel kind of the need to do it.

我們不想做的是削減業務投資以阻止成長。所以我認為這就是我們採取的方法。我認為增加投資並不是因為我們看到了機會，而是因為我們覺得有必要這麼做。

Now we think we are ahead. Everyone is quite cautious about showing their platforms in public, but that's what we hear from clients. And I think that it is going to be a big opportunity for us to have very, very different conversations with clients. We said in the statement, and maybe I should have said in my remarks. I think the way that clients buy what we do is becoming much more like technology services.

現在我們認為我們領先了。每個人都對在公共場合展示自己的平台非常謹慎，但這就是我們從客戶那裡聽到的。我認為這對我們來說是一個與客戶進行非常不同的對話的絕佳機會。我們在聲明中說過，也許我應該在我的演講中也這麼說。我認為客戶購買我們產品的方式越來越像技術服務。

It used to be and it's still creative, obviously, much more like technology. They're taking a more strategic approach. They're thinking about who their partners are. They want to look at simplifying and rationalizing those rosters. I was with a client, a consumer health company, the other day, they had 1,400 people in their marketing teams around the world.

它曾經是並且現在仍然具有創造性，顯然更像技術。他們正在採取更具策略性的方法。他們正在思考誰是他們的合作夥伴。他們希望研究簡化和合理化這些名冊。前幾天我和一位客戶在一起，這是一家消費者保健公司，他們的全球行銷團隊有 1,400 名員工。

And if you can breathe it, 1,450 agencies, have more than one agency for every person. And that is not uncommon. And if you're the CEO or a CMO or the COO trying to drive change, you can't do that with a roster of agencies that are so complex and deploy this technology. And it's not -- I know sometimes you feel like there's a danger that is sort of a diversion from the reality. I don't think this is a diversion from the reality.

如果你能呼吸一下，你會發現 1,450 個代理機構，平均每個員工都有不只一個代理機構。這並不罕見。如果你是執行長、首席行銷長或首席營運官，試圖推動變革，那麼你無法透過部署這項技術的複雜機構來實現這一目標。但事實並非如此——我知道有時你會感覺到某種危險，它有點偏離現實。我不認為這是對現實的偏離。

I think it's what we need to do to get the business back to growth. I don't think that it's impacting. There have been some comments out there that maybe it's impacting pricing and revenue and that's why we saw the softness. I don't think that's the case. I think that if I look at -- and you can see through the numbers, the parts of the business most impacted were our design companies, AKQA that's very project related, those parts of the business.

我認為這是我們讓業務恢復成長所需要做的事情。我不認為這會產生影響。有人評論說，這可能影響了定價和收入，這就是我們看到疲軟的原因。我不認為事實是如此。我認為，如果我看一下——你可以透過數字看到，受影響最大的業務部分是我們的設計公司，AKQA，這些與專案非常相關的業務部分。

And by the way, technology services have not been immune to some pressure on top line. I think GroupM grew okay, but nowhere near where it needs to be from a competitive performance. And if you look at what we need to do to close the gap with our peers, it's really about GroupM. So there's no pressure on Brian, but probably a 10% delta from where we need to be, and its half our business. It's a 5% delta.

順便說一句，技術服務也未能免受一些營收壓力的影響。我認為群邑的成長還不錯，但還遠遠沒有達到競爭所需的水平。如果你看看我們需要做什麼來縮小與同行的差距，你會發現這實際上與群邑有關。因此，布萊恩沒有承受任何壓力，但可能與我們需要達到的水平存在 10% 的差距，而這佔了我們業務的一半。這是一個 5% 的增量。

Now the other thing I'd point out is that we don't all report the top line in the same way. And if we reported our top line like Omnicom reported top line, we'd be at 2.1%. So I think that's something else that we sort of need to consider. So it's a bit of a long-winded preamble, but I think it's important to sort of talk -- think about AI and our investments there in the right (technical difficulty). Investment we need to make because we see the potential.

現在我想指出的另一件事是，我們報告頂線的方式並不相同。如果我們像 Omnicom 一樣報告我們的營業收入，我們的營業收入將達到 2.1%。所以我認為這是我們需要考慮的另一件事。所以這是一個有點冗長的序言，但我認為有必要談談——思考一下人工智慧和我們在正確領域的投資（技術難度）。我們需要進行投資，因為我們看到了潛力。

And I think that it will fund growth in the business and will deliver success in that.

我認為這將為業務成長提供資金並帶來成功。

Just on OpEx and CapEx, it's balanced, the GBP50 million incremental is balanced pretty equally between OpEx and CapEx. And on interest, look, I think this is pretty straightforward. Our interest cost, our net interest cost in 2024 was lower than what we guided to, and we're guiding in 2025 to flat interest.

僅在營運支出和資本支出上，它是平衡的，5000 萬英鎊的增量在營運支出和資本支出之間相當平衡。至於利息，我認為很簡單。我們的利息成本，即 2024 年的淨利息成本低於我們的預期，我們預計 2025 年的利息成本將持平。

We are benefiting from the very successful bond buyback, which we use that FGS proceeds to do. We're seeing an impact from the success of refinancing in 2024 bonds. So we have that full year effect of those higher blended rate as a result of that. There's a little bit lower interest income. There's a bit of a drag from FX as well.

我們受惠於非常成功的債券回購，我們利用 FGS 收益來進行債券回購。我們看到了 2024 年債券再融資成功的影響。因此，我們得到了這些較高混合利率的全年影響。利息收入稍微低一點。FX 也帶來了一些拖累。

Joe, on your question, what was wrong in the past? I mean, there was nothing wrong in the past. GroupM is a big, vibrant growing business. I would say the one thing I've observed is perhaps GroupM was too complex and not focused enough on our clients.

喬，關於你的問題，過去發生了什麼事？我的意思是，過去並沒有什麼問題。群邑是一家規模龐大、充滿活力且不斷成長的企業。我想說，我觀察到的一件事是，群邑可能太複雜了，對我們的客戶關注不夠。

And we've made those changes, and we'll continue to make those changes. We're relentlessly focused on our clients. And through the five priorities I discussed, we'll invest in our platform. We have a market-leading platform. And I think some of our competition has been good about positioning legacy data assets as a future for strategy and we have a different take on that and we're winning business with that strategy.

我們已經做出了這些改變，我們將繼續做出這些改變。我們始終堅持不懈地關注我們的客戶。透過我討論的五個優先事項，我們將對我們的平台進行投資。我們擁有市場領先的平台。我認為我們的一些競爭對手已經很好地將遺留資料資產定位為未來策略，我們對此有不同的看法，並且我們正在透過這項策略贏得業務。

So we'll focus on our platform, our people. We will build the culture of innovation. Many of the innovations that have come out of the media industry originated at GroupM, and we will get back to that culture.

因此，我們將專注於我們的平台、我們的員工。我們將建立創新文化。媒體產業的許多創新都源自於群邑，我們將回歸這種文化。

Next Richard, we should start to take -- if there are questions online, we should take those.

接下來理查德，我們應該開始回答──如果網路上有問題，我們就應該回答。

I'll try to be very brief question for Brian and one for Mark. For Brian, you mentioned AI tools. We see a rising portion of spend go through big tech. They all are seeing a rising portion go through their own AI tools. You see ad tech intermediaries talking about curation and data marketplaces, what portion of the market do you see addressable for incremental spend that you can pull into GroupM or incremental margin you can pull into GroupM?

我會盡量簡短地問布萊恩和馬克一個問題。對於 Brian，您提到了人工智慧工具。我們看到，越來越多的支出流向了大型科技公司。他們都看到越來越多的人使用自己的人工智慧工具。您看到廣告技術中介機構談論策展和數據市場，您認為有多少市場份額可以為 GroupM 帶來增量支出或增量利潤？

And a simple question for Mark. Two of your major competitors are proposing to undertake a very messy merger. What speaks against investing margin this year to take more market share and finally deliver the growth that I think investors are mostly looking for?

向馬克問一個簡單的問題。您的兩個主要競爭對手提議進行一項非常混亂的合併。有什麼理由反對今年投資保證金來佔領更多的市場份額並最終實現我認為投資者最期待的增長？

Okay. Brian, do you want to.

好的。布萊恩，你想嗎？

Yes. I mean in terms of our big technology partners investing in AI. That's our expectation, and that's a good thing for us. Their investments in AI don't mean that we're disintermediated from helping our clients spend across platforms. In fact, the more complex platforms get, the more valuable our services and our technology is to our clients.

是的。我的意思是就我們的大型技術合作夥伴對人工智慧的投資而言。這是我們的期望，這對我們來說是件好事。他們在人工智慧方面的投資並不意味著我們就無法幫助客戶跨平台消費。事實上，平台越複雜，我們的服務和技術對客戶來說就越有價值。

So in terms of where we can offer incremental margin, our two fastest-growing sectors are retail media and addressable television, or CTV, and we've already delivered a lot of efficiency and performance to those categories, and we'll continue to innovate in those categories, and I expect those to become a bigger part of what we do with GroupM. But it's not just limited to that.

因此，就我們可以提供增量利潤而言，我們成長最快的兩個領域是零售媒體和可尋址電視（CTV），我們已經為這些類別帶來了很多效率和性能，我們將繼續在這些類別中進行創新，我預計這些將成為我們與群邑合作的重要組成部分。但它並不僅限於此。

I mean one of our fastest-growing trading partners is TikTok, and you wouldn't have necessarily predicted that five years ago, but they're a good partner of ours. And five years from now, there will be a media company that we've never heard of that we'll be trading very effectively with. So I think there's nothing but upside in terms of how we help our clients engage consumers, how we predict consumer behavior at scale. And I think we have the best model to do that.

我的意思是，我們成長最快的交易夥伴之一是 TikTok，五年前你不一定會預測到這一點，但他們是我們的好夥伴。五年後，我們將與一家我們從未聽說過的媒體公司進行非常有效的交易。因此，我認為，就我們如何幫助客戶吸引消費者、如何大規模預測消費者行為而言，只有好處。我認為我們擁有最好的模型來做到這一點。

So look, on your question, as I talk to clients about the strengths of WPP, we have a very well-balanced business across creative, production and media. I'd point out that creatively -- to the extent that they [mat] through and they do, they do to some clients, they don't all Creative Company of the Year (technical difficulty) Ogilvy was Network of the Year, our client Coke was Brand of the Year and our client Unilever, Creative Market of the Year, so creatively were strong.

所以，關於你的問題，當我與客戶談論 WPP 的優勢時，我們發現我們的創意、製作和媒體業務非常平衡。我想指出的是，從創意上來說——就他們所做的而言，他們對一些客戶確實如此，但並非所有客戶都如此。年度創意公司（技術難度）奧美是年度網絡，我們的客戶可口可樂是年度品牌，我們的客戶聯合利華是年度創意市場，所以創意方面很強大。

Our production business in Hogarth, I'd say, is the biggest in the industry, and GroupM, as Brian has said, is very strong. And even post the merger, GroupM will be by a [smidgen] number two, based on the pro forma figures, but number one still in Europe and Asia, which probably the markets where scale counts the most. So I think our business is in a strong position.

我想說，我們在霍加斯的生產業務是業內最大的，正如布萊恩所說，群邑非常強大。即使合併後，根據備考數據，群邑仍將以微弱優勢位居第二，但在歐洲和亞洲仍將位居第一，這兩個市場可能是規模最為重要的市場。所以我認為我們的業務處於強勢地位。

And then secondly, we have through WPP Open, I think, a single platform that spans the whole company that I think is extremely powerful. And then the last point I'd make is that the restructuring is behind us. Now I've no doubt, I don't think there are specific client losses we can point at to in these mergers. But I do think people do become more internally focused than externally focused. I think that probably weighed on the business over the course of the year.

其次，我認為，我們透過 WPP Open 建立了一個涵蓋整個公司的單一平台，這個平台非常強大。我要說的最後一點是，重組已經結束。現在我毫不懷疑，我不認為在這些合併中存在我們可以指出的具體客戶損失。但我確實認為人們確實更加關注內部而不是外部。我認為這可能會對全年的業務造成影響。

We've had good -- got a good client win in VML yesterday. I think AKQA had a very strong start to the year in terms of new business, won three major clients in the first two months of the year. And look, none of that is -- I'm not trying to change our guidance, but I'm just saying that there are positive things, as you say, in terms of the client comments and the points I'd make to clients that I talk to is we have a strong platform, strong technology, strong capabilities, excellent people, and we can start to engage in these more complex discussions because the types of marketing transformations that the clients are looking for are complex, to some extent, they take longer.

我們昨天在 VML 中贏得了一位優秀的客戶。我認為 AKQA 今年在新業務方面開局非常強勁，在今年前兩個月贏得了三個主要客戶。你看，這些都不是——我並不是想改變我們的指導方針，我只是說，正如你所說，從客戶的評論和我與客戶交談的觀點來看，有一些積極的事情，那就是我們擁有強大的平台、強大的技術、強大的能力、優秀的人才，我們可以開始參與這些更複雜的討論，因為客戶所尋求的營銷轉型類型很複雜，在某種程度上，它們需要更長的時間。

I don't think that it's a question of sacrificing margin to drive growth. Yes, we have to be competitive on margin. And yes, we have to use all the tools in our armory offshoring, moving to cheaper locations, centralizing services. So all of the discussions we have with clients are around how we deliver to them more efficiently because that's absolutely what they want.

我不認為這是一個犧牲利潤來推動成長的問題。是的，我們必須在利潤上具有競爭力。是的，我們必須使用我們軍械庫中的所有工具進行離岸外包，轉移到更便宜的地方，集中服務。因此，我們與客戶的所有討論都圍繞著如何更有效地為他們提供服務，因為這絕對是他們想要的。

But I don't think that's simply a case of sort of a straightforward trade-off between price and margin somehow if we reinvested x amount, we'd grow x amount faster. I think it's more complex than that. Let's take some questions online. So I'm going to read them out. Okay. They're coming. There's three questions online.

但我不認為這只是價格和利潤之間的簡單權衡，如果我們重新投資 x 金額，我們的 x 金額就會成長得更快。我認為事實比這更複雜。讓我們在線回答一些問題。所以我要把它們讀出來。好的。他們來了。網路上有三個問題。

All three people online in my experience nine questions. While we wait, is there anyone in the audience has a question or we'll wait to get the online questions out. Okay. So probably the three questions that were online have not come. So everyone wants to come.

根據我的經驗，所有三個人在線上都有九個問題。在我們等待的時候，觀眾中是否有人有問題，或者我們等待在線提問。好的。所以網路上提到的三個問題可能還沒出來。所以每個人都想來。

Okay. So look, there's no more questions. Thank you very much for attending and taking the time to come and be with us in person. As you know, at WPP, we believe that in-person working is better in the long run for the organization than remote working. So pleased to see you all here. And Joanne, Brian and I really appreciate your interest in WPP.

好的。所以你看，沒有其他問題了。非常感謝您出席並抽出時間來親自與我們在一起。如您所知，在 WPP，我們相信從長遠來看，面對面工作比遠距工作對組織更有利。很高興在這裡見到你們。喬安妮、布萊恩和我非常感謝你們對 WPP 的關注。

It is a challenging macro environment out there, but I am very positive about the plans that we have and look forward to updating you on the progress over the coming months. Thank you very much, and thank you, everyone, who joined online.

外面的宏觀環境充滿挑戰，但我對我們的計劃非常樂觀，並期待在未來幾個月向您通報進展。非常感謝，也感謝線上加入的所有人。