WPP PLC (WPP) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Thank you very much, and good morning, everybody, and welcome to our 2025 interim results earnings call, and thank you for joining us. I'm on today's call with Joanne Wilson, our CFO; Brian Lesser, the CEO of WPP Media; and Tom Singlehurst, our Head of Investor Relations. And before we get started, please do look at the cautionary statement, which you can see on slide 2 and read that carefully.

非常感謝，大家早安，歡迎參加我們的 2025 年中期業績電話會議，感謝您的加入。今天我與我們的財務長 Joanne Wilson、WPP Media 執行長 Brian Lesser 以及我們的投資者關係主管湯姆辛格赫斯特 (Tom Singlehurst) 進行了電話會議。在我們開始之前，請先查看投影片 2 上的警告聲明並仔細閱讀。

So turning to the highlights on page 5 of presentation. First, in terms of the first half performance by 2025, when we updated June, early July, we went through how the more challenging macro environment, coupled with a slower net new business environment and weighed on our performance in the second quarter and in particular in June. And Joanne will take you through the details shortly, but the performance in the first half is in line with those revised expectations, with H1 organic net sales growth of minus 4.3% is consistent with the second quarter down 5.8%.

現在請翻到簡報第 5 頁的重點內容。首先，就2025年上半年的業績而言，當我們在7月初更新6月份業績時，我們經歷了更具挑戰性的宏觀環境，加上淨新業務環境放緩，如何影響了我們在第二季度，特別是6月份的業績。喬安妮很快就會向您介紹細節，但上半年的業績符合修訂後的預期，上半年有機淨銷售額增長-4.3%，與第二季度下降5.8%的情況一致。

Now as we said on July 9, the second quarter was impacted by several one-off factors that negatively impacted our growth rate. Even excluding those, our H1 growth was minus 3.8% and minus 4.8% in the second quarter below our expectations at the start of the year. Now in the face of this, we are maintaining strong financial discipline. Head count has come down by 3.7% since the start of the year, brought in line with the organic growth trends.

正如我們在 7 月 9 日所說，第二季受到了幾個一次性因素的影響，對我們的成長率產生了負面影響。即使排除這些因素，我們的上半年成長率為-3.8%，第二季成長率為-4.8%，低於我們年初的預期。面對這種情況，我們仍然保持嚴格的財務紀律。自今年年初以來，員工人數已下降 3.7%，與有機成長趨勢保持一致。

In addition, we continue to take out structural costs and focus on back office efficiently -- efficiency, underlining our disciplined approach to managing the cost base. As a result, headline operating margin was 8.2%, down by 290 basis points on a like-for-like basis, but this includes the cost of severance action taken in particular at WPP Media, which has not been treated as an exceptional, and we expect margins to improve in second half of the year.

此外，我們繼續削減結構性成本，並專注於提高後台效率，強調我們管理成本基礎的嚴謹方法。因此，整體營業利潤率為 8.2%，年減 290 個基點，但這其中包括 WPP Media 採取的遣散行動成本，該成本並未被視為例外，我們預計利潤率將在下半年有所提高。

As importantly, the operating environment we saw in the first half hasn't stopped us in taking significant action against our strategic goals. And in February, we talked about three strategic -- specific priorities for 2025, driving adoption of WPP OPEN, getting GroupM, now WPP Media back to growth and winning more new business. And we've made progress on those. I'll talk about in a minute.

同樣重要的是，上半年的經營環境並沒有阻止我們採取重大行動實現策略目標。今年 2 月，我們討論了 2025 年的三個策略具體重點：推動 WPP OPEN 的採用、讓 GroupM（現為 WPP Media）恢復成長並贏得更多新業務。我們在這些方面已經取得了進展。我稍後會談論。

But more broadly, I want to emphasize, it has been improved intense activity across the group, whether that be the release of new products we put out to consult on reputation capital indicates, we're starting to do partnerships, for example, coverages, TikTok, latter being particularly important in terms of further strengthening our retail media offer within WPP Media.

但從更廣泛的角度來看，我想強調的是，整個集團的活動都在加強，無論是我們發布的新產品，還是聲譽資本諮詢，都表明我們開始建立合作夥伴關係，例如報道、TikTok，後者對於進一步加強我們在 WPP Media 內部的零售媒體服務尤為重要。

It's also been a very busy period to be working with top talent to organization, Vincent Basin Shar, who joins us from Accenture and Accenture Song as CEO of AKQA, which has had some more success in AKQA in the past few months in terms of winning new business. And I think we will see a continued turnaround in that business, which is reassuring. When Daniel Barrack, who joins us from RGA is a global creative and innovation lead, working on a very important client with a focus on AI and technology.

這也是一段非常忙碌的時期，因為我要與組織中的頂尖人才文森特·巴辛·沙爾 (Vincent Basin Shar) 合作，文森特·巴辛·沙爾來自埃森哲和埃森哲宋，加入我們擔任 AKQA 的首席執行官，在過去的幾個月裡，AKQA 在贏得新業務方面取得了更多成功。我認為我們將看到該業務持續好轉，這是令人欣慰的。來自 RGA 的 Daniel Barrack 加入我們，他是一位全球創意和創新主管，負責一個非常重要的客戶，專注於人工智慧和技術。

So coming back specifically to the 2025 priorities on slide 6, and those three -- taking those three in turn. First, in terms of adoption of WPP OPEN, it's growing fast at over 80% of our client-facing people actively using the platform. And with adoption running ahead of our expectations, we're now pushing for greater engagement per user. Just to give you some statistics, but in context of what we're doing, in the last month, our team created more than 1 million images, 240,000 videos on the platform, and we now have more than 50,000 agents active across WPP, helping our people to use AI to deliver work for clients.

因此，具體回到幻燈片 6 上的 2025 年優先事項，以及這三個 — — 依次討論這三個。首先，就 WPP OPEN 的採用而言，它正在快速成長，超過 80% 的客戶人員都在積極使用該平台。由於採用率超出了我們的預期，我們現在正在努力提高每個用戶的參與度。只是給你一些統計數據，但就我們正在做的事情而言，上個月，我們的團隊在平台上創建了超過 100 萬張圖片、240,000 個視頻，現在我們在 WPP 上有超過 50,000 名活躍的代理，幫助我們的員工使用人工智能為客戶提供工作。

The second priority was media. And one of the drivers for highly increased adoption of WPP OPEN has been rapid expansion in Open Media Studio, which is encouraging itself, but more important to the progress made by Brian and his team, and he'll take you through that in a few minutes, but an enormous amount has been achieved in the first half, not only in terms of reengineering the operational model, making WPP Media much more client-centric organization, but also in terms of bringing AI-enabled technology platform to market by acquisition and integration of InfoSum, the launch of Open Intelligence, the data performance brand that powers the open and reissue.

第二個優先事項是媒體。WPP OPEN 採用率大幅提升的驅動因素之一是 Open Media Studio 的快速擴張，這本身就令人鼓舞，但更重要的是 Brian 和他的團隊所取得的進展，他將在幾分鐘內向您介紹這一點，但上半年已經取得了巨大的成就，不僅在重新設計營運模式方面，使 WPP Media 更加以客戶為中心，而且已經透過收購和整合 InfoSum 平台還透過以客戶為中心，而且確保Intelligence（為開放和再版提供支援的數據性能品牌）將支援人工智慧的技術平台推向市場。

And on the third priority in our business, I would say this has been a source of relative disappointment. Now to be clear, we have had some significant wins, whether that's the Hero, MotorCore in Media, L'Oreal in Influencer, TJ Maxx in PR, Heineken in Commerce, IT and Creative, but that have been set back. So overall, it has been a much slower new business environment. I mean, as the chart shows, new business running at less than half the typical rate at this point in the year.

關於我們業務的第三大優先事項，我想說，這是一個相對令人失望的原因。現在要明確的是，我們取得了一些重大勝利，無論是英雄、媒體領域的 MotorCore、影響者領域的歐萊雅、公關領域的 TJ Maxx、商業、IT 和創意領域的喜力，但這些都遭遇了挫折。因此整體而言，新商業環境的發展速度要慢得多。我的意思是，正如圖表所示，今年這個時候新業務的營運速度還不到正常水平的一半。

Now my view is that clients have been dealing with a lot of short-term issues, whether that's pressure on to assume the spend with the impact of tariffs or commodity prices, and these are delayed pictures and prolonged decision-making. And I'm sure we've discussed that in the call and the Q&A.

現在我的觀點是，客戶一直在處理很多短期問題，無論是承擔關稅或商品價格影響下的支出壓力，這些都是延遲的圖片和長期的決策。我確信我們已經在電話會議和問答環節討論過這個問題。

For now, I'll hand over to Joanne to take you through the details of the first half performance. Joanne?

現在，我將請喬安妮向大家詳細介紹上半場的演出。喬安妮？

Thank you, Mark, and good morning, everyone. So let me start by kicking through where our performance has landed relative to the revised guidance we set at the beginning of July, and you can see this on slide 8.

謝謝你，馬克，大家早安。首先，讓我來介紹一下我們的業績相對於我們在 7 月初制定的修訂指引的水平，您可以在第 8 張投影片上看到這一點。

Like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs fell 5.8% in the quarter, which was in line with the anticipated range. This leaves the first half organic decline at 4.3%. As mentioned in our July trading update, there were some one-off factors, which did weigh on the second quarter performance. Excluding this, the like-for-like decline would have been 3.8% in the first half and 4.8% in the second quarter.

本季同類收入減去轉嫁成本後下降了 5.8%，符合預期範圍。這使得上半年有機下降幅度達到 4.3%。正如我們在 7 月的交易更新中所提到的，有一些一次性因素確實對第二季的業績產生了影響。剔除此項，上半年年減幅將達到 3.8%，第二季年減幅將達到 4.8%。

Turning to headline operating profit. This came in at GBP412 million, in the middle of our range. This is consistent with the margin of 8.2%, with a 290-basis-point like-for-like decline driven by a combination of the impact of negative operating leverage on lower net sales and higher severance in particular, at WPP Media.

轉向整體營業利潤。這筆金額為 4.12 億英鎊，位於我們預期範圍的中間。這與 8.2% 的利潤率一致，年減 290 個基點，主要是由於 WPP Media 的負經營槓桿導致淨銷售額下降以及遣散費增加等因素的影響。

Moving on to slide 9 and looking at performance across our business. Global Integrated Agencies saw a like-for-like decline of 6% in the second quarter, a step down from minus 2.8% in the first quarter. Within this, WPP Media was down 4.7%, which saw the US decline against a tougher comp reflecting client losses. Trends remained tough in the UK as we continue to be impacted by prior year client losses, and Western Continental Europe was impacted by one-off factors amplifying the effect of a more challenging media environment. Excluding one-off factors, WPP Media declined 1.6% in H1 and minus 2.3% in Q2.

前往第 9 張投影片並查看我們整個業務的表現。全球綜合代理機構第二季年減 6%，較第一季的下降 2.8% 有所下降。其中，WPP Media 下跌 4.7%，美國業務相對於其他競爭對手下滑，反映客戶損失。由於我們繼續受到上一年客戶損失的影響，英國的趨勢仍然嚴峻，而西歐大陸則受到一次性因素的影響，這些因素放大了更具挑戰性的媒體環境的影響。排除一次性因素，WPP Media上半年下滑1.6%，第二季下滑2.3%。

Like-for-like for other integrated creative agencies fell 7.2% in the second quarter and compared with the decline of 4.4% in the first quarter of 2025. Within this, the main moving part is Ogilvy, which declined high single digits in the first half and was down double digits in the second quarter, impacted by cuts in client spending, in particular, in CPG, tech and government. We continue to see an impact from weakness in project-based work. However, AKQA saw a slight sequential improvement quarter-on-quarter on easier comps.

其他綜合創意機構的同類營業額在第二季下降了 7.2%，而 2025 年第一季的降幅為 4.4%。其中，主要變動部分是奧美，受客戶支出削減（尤其是快速消費品、科技和政府領域）的影響，其上半年營收下降了高個位數，第二季度則下降了兩位數。我們繼續看到基於專案的工作薄弱所帶來的影響。然而，AKQA 在較容易比較的方面表現比上一季略有改善。

Turning to PR. Like-for-like declined by 7.8% in the second quarter, a slight step down from 6.6% in the first quarter. This performance reflects a more challenging environment for client discretionary spend, particularly in Europe and across smaller local clients. Looking forward, we are encouraged by improved momentum on new business in North America.

轉向 PR。第二季同類銷售額下降 7.8%，較第一季的 6.6% 略有下降。這一表現反映出客戶可自由支配支出的環境更具挑戰性，尤其是在歐洲和較小的本地客戶。展望未來，北美新業務的成長動能令我們感到鼓舞。

And finally, specialist agencies saw a like-for-like decline of 1.9% in the quarter, with continued double-digit growth from C&I, our specialist health care media agency, and a return to growth of Design Bridge and Partners, offset by continued, albeit moderating declines at Landor and other smaller specialist agencies.

最後，專業機構本季同比下降 1.9%，其中，我們的專業醫療保健媒體機構 C&I 繼續保持兩位數增長，Design Bridge and Partners 恢復增長，但朗濤和其他規模較小的專業機構的下滑幅度雖然有所緩和，但仍持續存在。

Turning now to the performance by region on slide 10. North America declined by 4.6% in the second quarter, following a decline of 0.1% in the first quarter. While there was a toughing comp, the performance was impacted by cuts in client spend, particularly impacted Ogilvy and the ramp down of a Q1 client loss.

現在就來看看投影片 10 上各地區的表現。北美繼第一季下降 0.1% 之後，第二季又下降了 4.6%。雖然競爭激烈，但業績仍受到顧客支出削減的影響，尤其是奧美和第一季顧客損失減少的影響。

The United Kingdom declined by 6.5% in the second quarter, a slight deterioration on the 5.5% decline in the first quarter despite a lease income. Performance continues to be impacted by its higher weighting towards project-based work and the impact of client losses at WPP Media, although Ogilvy posted positive growth.

英國第二季經濟下滑6.5%，儘管有租賃收入，但較第一季5.5%的降幅略有惡化。儘管奧美實現了正成長，但其業績仍受到其對基於專案的工作的更高權重以及 WPP 媒體客戶流失的影響。

Western Continental Europe saw an overall like-for-like decline of 6.5%, again, versus an easy year-on-year comp and reflecting the impact of one-off factors.

西歐大陸整體年減 6.5%，與去年同期相比成長平穩，反映了一次性因素的影響。

The rest of world declined 6.8% in the second quarter, largely driven by consistent pressures in China, which declined 15.9%. As discussed on the first quarter call, we expected performance to continue to be challenging in China in the first half of 2025 with some improvement later in the year.

全球其他地區第二季經濟下滑 6.8%，主要受中國持續壓力所致，中國經濟下滑 15.9%。正如在第一季電話會議上所討論的那樣，我們預計 2025 年上半年中國市場的業績將繼續面臨挑戰，但今年稍後將有所改善。

Against this, we saw a relatively better performance in India, which was flat at 0.1% in the first half driven by WPP Media. Central and Eastern Europe saw a robust performance, up 2.4% in the second quarter.

與此相比，我們看到印度的表現相對較好，在 WPP 媒體的推動下，上半年印度的成長率持平於 0.1%。中歐和東歐表現強勁，第二季成長2.4%。

Slide 11 shows Q2 performance across our client sectors. Having been stable in the first quarter, CPG saw a step down in the second quarter, declining 8.3%. Cuts to client spending and the loss of a large client in North America were key factors. Performance in the tech client sector moderated in the second quarter, showing a decline of 1.2%, having seen Q1 growth continue to improve at 4.5%.

投影片 11 展示了我們各個客戶部門第二季的業績。CPG在第一季保持穩定後，第二季出現下滑，下降了8.3%。削減客戶支出和失去北美大客戶是關鍵因素。科技客戶領域的表現在第二季有所放緩，下降了 1.2%，而第一季的成長則持續提高至 4.5%。

Geographically, the US saw the biggest delta driven by client spending cuts, with trends elsewhere more robust. Health care has continued to stabilize with broadly flat growth in the quarter, the 2023 client losses start to roll off. But automotive and financial services, which both started the year well saw a step down in the second quarter.

從地理來看，美國受客戶支出削減影響最大，其他地區的趨勢更為強勁。醫療保健產業持續保持穩定，本季成長基本持平，2023 年客戶損失開始減少。但今年開局良好的汽車和金融服務業在第二季卻出現下滑。

The performance of our top clients continues to be relatively more robust than for the group as a whole, with our top 25 clients growing 0.1% in the first half, albeit this is consistent with the low single-digit decline in the second quarter.

我們的頂級客戶的表現繼續比整個集團表現更為強勁，上半年我們的前 25 名客戶增長了 0.1%，儘管這與第二季度的低個位數降幅一致。

The waterfall chart on slide 12 bridges our headline operating margin from 11.5% in the first half of 2024 to 8.2% in 2025, a 3.3 percentage point decline on a reported basis and a 2.9 percentage point move like-for-like adjusting for FGS and FX.

投影片 12 上的瀑布圖將我們的整體營業利潤率從 2024 年上半年的 11.5% 降至 2025 年的 8.2%，報告基礎上下降了 3.3 個百分點，根據 FGS 和 FX 調整後同比下降了 2.9 個百分點。

The main moving part to the expected negative operational gearing on the reduced like-for-like net sales as well as the impact of severance. To take some numbers to this, although our overall staff cost, excluding severance and incentives, is down GBP261 million, given the decline in net sales, this is still consistent of the 250 basis points decline in margin. This reflects a 6% reduction in headcount when compared to June 30, 2024, and reduced usage of freelances, but also the impact of the FGS Global disposal.

預計負面營運槓桿將導致同類淨銷售額下降以及遣散費的影響。舉幾個數字來看，雖然我們的整體員工成本（不包括遣散費和獎金）下降了 2.61 億英鎊，但考慮到淨銷售額的下降，這仍然與利潤率下降 250 個基點的情況一致。這反映出與 2024 年 6 月 30 日相比員工人數減少了 6%，自由工作者的使用也減少了，同時也受到了 FGS Global 處置的影響。

Severance and other associated costs is up -- is down GBP59 million year-on-year, and this takes another 130 basis points off margin. This is primarily driven by actions in WPP Media, and we expect to pay back progressively through the second half and into 2026.

遣散費和其他相關費用增加——年減 5,900 萬英鎊，這使利潤率又降低了 130 個基點。這主要得益於 WPP Media 的行動，我們預計在下半年至 2026 年逐步償還。

As we discussed in July, we estimate the annualized gross savings benefit associated with these actions will be at least GBP150 million, and we anticipate margins in the second half to improve in the results.

正如我們在 7 月所討論的那樣，我們估計這些行動帶來的年化總節省收益將至少達到 1.5 億英鎊，並且我們預計下半年的利潤率將會提高。

While total IT costs have remained broadly flat, this represents back-office savings and enterprise tech, offset by our continued investment in WPP Open, AI and data. Total IT costs were a 0.6 percentage point drag on margin.

雖然整體 IT 成本基本上保持平穩，但這代表了後台節省和企業技術，但被我們對 WPP Open、AI 和數據的持續投資所抵消。總 IT 成本對利潤率造成 0.6 個百分點的拖累。

On slide 13, we look in detail restructuring costs and conduct ongoing severance actions, both in reaction to the weaker top line as well as the more strategic actions at WPP Media are included in the headline operating profit. Restructuring costs associated with historical programs are coming down and in the first half were GBP45 million compared to GBP153 million in the first half of 2024. GBP40 million in restructuring costs are cash and primarily related to the ongoing IT transformation as well as property-related costs from historical impairments.

在第 13 張投影片上，我們詳細研究了重組成本和正在進行的遣散行動，這既是為了應對較弱的營收，也是為了應對 WPP Media 的更具策略性的行動，這些都包含在整體營業利潤中。與歷史項目相關的重組成本正在下降，上半年為 4,500 萬英鎊，而 2024 年上半年為 1.53 億英鎊。4000萬英鎊的重組成本為現金，主要與正在進行的IT轉型以及歷史減損產生的財產相關成本有關。

We are running below the previous full year modeling assumption of GBP110 million, and we have reduced our full year expectation for restructuring costs to GBP90 million.

我們的全年營運成本低於先前 1.1 億英鎊的模型假設，並且我們已將全年重組成本預期下調至 9,000 萬英鎊。

We put this altogether to headline P&L on slide 14. Overall reported revenue less pass-through costs was GBP5 billion, a decrease of 10.2% period-on-period. FX contributed to a 2.4% drag, with M&A a further 3.5% headwind, leaving a like-for-like decline of 4.3%.

我們將這些內容放在一起，作為第 14 張投影片上的損益表標題。報告的總收入減去轉嫁成本為 50 億英鎊，季減 10.2%。外匯因素拖累了 2.4%，併購因素又拖累了 3.5%，導致年減 4.3%。

Moving down the P&L. I remind you that income from associates excludes any contributions from Kantar, in accordance with IAS 28 due to no carrying value on our balance sheet. Net finance costs of GBP129 million was down year-on-year, reflecting the lower average adjusted net debt.

降低損益。我提醒您，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沒有帳面價值。淨融資成本為 1.29 億英鎊，年減，反映出平均調整後淨債務較低。

Our effective tax rate at 18.3% is down year-on-year, principally driven by the benefit of credits from the successful resolution of a tax matter. Given the impact from a lower level of profits based on our revised guidance, our modeling assumption is the full year effective tax rate will be 31%.

我們的有效稅率為 18.3%，年比下降，主要原因是成功解決稅務問題帶來的抵免收益。考慮到根據我們修訂的指引利潤水準較低所帶來的影響，我們的模型假設是全年有效稅率將為 31%。

Noncontrolling interests of GBP26 million were down significantly year-on-year, largely reflecting the impact of the disposal of FGS Global. Headline diluted EPS of 20p is down 35% on a reported basis, a 10.9p move consistent with an 8.8p decline like-for-like and a 2.1p impact from FX and M&A.

非控制權益為2600萬英鎊，年比大幅下降，主要反映了出售FGS Global的影響。總體稀釋每股收益為 20 便士，按報告基礎計算下降了 35%，其中 10.9 便士的變動與 8.8 便士的同比下降以及 2.1 便士的外匯和併購影響相一致。

Turning to the dividend. The Board recognizes the importance of dividends to shareholders and also the importance of retaining financial flexibility for the business. With UC EU starting imminently alongside a review of the strategy, we will evaluate our capital allocation policy to ensure we align our financial resources and distribution policy with our strategy and our priority to drive sustainable growth. As a result, and after careful consideration, the Board has declared an interim dividend of 7.5p.

談到股息。董事會認識到股利對股東的重要性以及維持企業財務彈性的重要性。隨著 UC EU 即將啟動以及策略審查，我們將評估我們的資本配置政策，以確保我們的財務資源和分配政策與我們的策略和推動永續成長的優先事項保持一致。因此，經過仔細考慮，董事會宣布派發 7.5 便士的中期股息。

Moving to slide 15 and the reconciliation between our headline and reported operating profit. Headline operating profit of GBP412 million is adjusted for goodwill impairment of GBP116 million, which relates to AKQA and Grey. Gains on disposal are fairly minimal at GBP2 million in the first half, while amortization and impairment of acquired intangibles is also lower year-on-year. As already discussed, we've seen a fall in restructuring and transformation costs to GBP45 million from GBP153 million a year ago. Putting these items together, that leaves our reported operating profit at GBP221 million in the first half with a decline slightly lower than the move in headline operating profit.

前往第 15 張投影片，查看我們的標題和報告的營業利潤之間的對帳。4.12 億英鎊的總營業利潤已根據與 AKQA 和 Grey 相關的 1.16 億英鎊的商譽減損進行調整。上半年處置收益相當少，僅 200 萬英鎊，而收購無形資產的攤銷和減損也較去年同期下降。正如已經討論過的，重組和轉型成本已從一年前的 1.53 億英鎊下降至 4500 萬英鎊。綜合以上各項數據，我們上半年報告的營業利潤為 2.21 億英鎊，降幅略低於整體營業利潤的增幅。

Slide 16 looks at our adjusted operating cash flow and bridges the year-on-year movement in adjusted net debt to June 2025. Our 12-month adjusted operating cash flow before working capital to June 2025 was GBP1.2 billion. While we continue to focus on working capital management, we saw a working capital outflow of GBP175 million in the 12-month period. We saw a net outflow of GBP118 million, comprising the net impact of dividends from associates -- to minorities and including M&A earn-outs.

投影片 16 展示了我們調整後的營運現金流，並將調整後的淨債務的同比變動情況反映到了 2025 年 6 月。截至 2025 年 6 月，我們的 12 個月調整後營運資本前營運現金流為 12 億英鎊。雖然我們繼續關注營運資本管理，但我們發現 12 個月內營運資本流出 1.75 億英鎊。我們看到淨流出量為 1.18 億英鎊，包括聯營公司向少數股東派發的股息的淨影響以及併購收益。

Net interest and tax contributed to GBP633 million outflow with the cash tax, including GBP43 million of tax associated with the FGS Global disposal. Net M&A and disposals was at GBP383 million inflow, primarily reflecting the disposal of FGS in the second half of 2024 and the acquisition of InfoSum. Cash dividends paid in the 12-month period was consistent with prior year, while pay back -- while buybacks and other items amounted to an outflow of GBP104 million.

淨利息和稅收加上現金稅總計造成 6.33 億英鎊的流出，其中包括與 FGS Global 處置相關的 4,300 萬英鎊的稅收。淨併購和處置流入為 3.83 億英鎊，主要反映了 2024 年下半年 FGS 的處置和對 InfoSum 的收購。12 個月期間支付的現金股利與上年持平，而償還款項（回購及其他項目）總計流出 1.04 億英鎊。

And moving now to slide 17, which shows the movement in net debt to the end of June with adjusted net debt of GBP3.3 billion, down year-on-year but up from year-end, reflecting our typical cash cycle. Average adjusted net debt better captures the normal pattern of working capital moves across the year, and this is slightly down through the first half at GBP3.4 billion. Despite a reduced net debt balance, the average adjusted net debt to headline EBITDA ratio at June 30 is outside our 1.5 to 1.75x target range, given a little of profit, and our expectation is that we will be above our target range for the full year 2025.

現在轉到投影片 17，該投影片顯示了截至 6 月底的淨債務變動情況，調整後的淨債務為 33 億英鎊，同比下降但比年底有所上升，反映了我們典型的現金週期。平均調整後淨債務更好地反映了全年營運資本變動的正常模式，上半年該數字略有下降，為 34 億英鎊。儘管淨債務餘額減少，但 6 月 30 日的平均調整後淨債務與總體 EBITDA 比率超出了我們的 1.5 至 1.75 倍目標範圍，考慮到少量利潤，我們預計 2025 年全年該比率將高於我們的目標範圍。

Our balance sheet, however, remains robust. The weighted average maturity of our GBP3.8 billion of bond debt is 6.4 years, and this has an average coupon rate of 3.5%. Meanwhile, our total available liquidity across the group stood at GBP3 billion at June 30, 2025, including a $2.5 billion committed RCF, which matures in February 2030 Neither our bond debt nor our RCF of any covenants on our credit remains investment-grade.

然而，我們的資產負債表依然強勁。我們的 38 億英鎊債券債務的加權平均期限為 6.4 年，平均票面利率為 3.5%。同時，截至 2025 年 6 月 30 日，我們整個集團的可用流動資金總額為 30 億英鎊，其中包括 25 億美元的承諾 RCF，將於 2030 年 2 月到期。我們的債券債務和任何信用契約的 RCF 均未達到投資等級。

And finally for me, turning to slide 18, which shows our guidance for the full year. At our July trading update, we shared a revised guidance for revenue and operating profit with a like-for-like decline in the range of minus 3% to minus 5% and a headline operating margin decline of 50 to 175 basis points.

最後，請翻到第 18 張投影片，上面顯示了我們對全年的指導。在 7 月的交易更新中，我們分享了修訂後的收入和營業利潤指引，年減幅度在 -3% 至 -5% 之間，整體營業利潤率下降 50 至 175 個基點。

Looking beyond the net sales and margin guidance and reflecting the change to those revenue and margin guidance, we now expect adjusted operating cash flow before working capital to be GBP1.1 billion to GBPL 1.2 billion. As already mentioned, the lower level of anticipated profitability in 2025 drives changes to our assumption for the effective tax rate. We also expect a lower level of CapEx and cash restructuring costs than our guidance at the start of the year. Elsewhere, either the impact of FX or of M&A has materially changed since the first quarter results.

除了淨銷售額和利潤率指引之外，並反映這些收入和利潤率指引的變化，我們現在預計營運資本前的調整後營運現金流將達到 11 億英鎊至 12 億英鎊。如前所述，2025 年預期獲利水準較低導致我們對有效稅率的假設發生變化。我們也預期資本支出和現金重組成本將低於年初的預期。在其他方面，自第一季業績以來，外匯或併購的影響已發生重大變化。

So thank you, and I will now hand over to Brian.

所以謝謝你，現在我將把麥克風交給 Brian。

(video playing)

（影片播放）

Good morning, everyone. That video you just watched captures just a glimpse of the energy and momentum behind what we're building at WPP Media. It's been almost 11 months since I rejoined GroupM, now WPP Media, and about four months since we formally introduced the market to the scale and scope of the transformation underway.

大家早安。您剛剛觀看的影片只是展示了我們在 WPP Media 所建立的活力和動力。自從我重新加入群邑（現為 WPP Media）已經過去了近 11 個月，而自從我們正式向市場介紹正在進行的轉型規模和範圍也已經過去了大約四個月。

This morning, I want to go beyond what's changing to focus on what's already taken hold, how we operate what this organization looks like today and why we're in a strong position to win.

今天上午，我想除了討論正在發生的變化之外，還想重點談談已經發生的事情、我們的運作方式、這個組織的現狀以及我們為什麼處於有利的獲勝地位。

In February, I laid out our five strategic priorities. Today, I'll walk you through the meaningful progress we've made, particularly in how we've evolved our data, technology and organizational design.

二月份，我列出了我們的五大戰略重點。今天，我將向大家介紹我們所取得的有意義的進展，特別是我們在數據、技術和組織設計方面的發展。

I'm pleased with the collective progress we've made in the first half of this year. From launching Open Media Studio in our largest markets, to debuting Open Intelligence, restructuring our teams and centralizing leadership, we're laying the foundation for a stronger, more agile organization.

我對我們今年上半年的集體進展感到高興。從在我們最大的市場推出開放媒體工作室，到首次推出開放智能，重組我們的團隊和集中領導，我們正在為更強大、更敏捷的組織奠定基礎。

We've also accelerated our data strategy with the acquisition of InfoSum. This is a reflection of the collective effort of thousands of people working toward a common goal. It's progress worth acknowledging and momentum we're committed to building on. We know the transformation at this scale doesn't happen quietly. It takes clarity of vision, conviction and execution and, above all, commitment from our internal teams.

我們也透過收購 InfoSum 加速了我們的資料策略。這是成千上萬的人為了一個共同目標而共同努力的體現。這是值得肯定的進步，也是我們致力於繼續前進的動力。我們知道，如此規模的轉變不會悄無聲息地發生。它需要清晰的願景、信念和執行力，最重要的是，需要我們內在團隊的承諾。

As you know, we made bold decisions to overhaul our operating model, integrated marketing services that focus on one team, one process and one platform. One team. We've broken down silos to operate as a single global organization with local relevance. Whether you sit in Mindshare or Wavemaker, in London or in Vietnam, you're part of a connected system with shared goals, led by a newly reorganized leadership team solely focused on driving results.

如你所知，我們做出了大膽的決定，徹底改革我們的營運模式，即專注於一個團隊、一個流程和一個平台的整合行銷服務。一隊。我們打破了各自為政的局面，以具有本地相關性的單一全球組織的身份開展營運。無論您是在 Mindshare 還是 Wavemaker，在倫敦還是在越南，您都是一個具有共同目標的互聯繫統的一部分，由一個新重組的領導團隊領導，該團隊專注於推動成果。

One process. We've streamlined how we plan, activate and optimize campaigns. This alignment not only increases efficiency, it reduces friction for our clients.

一個過程。我們簡化了規劃、啟動和優化活動的方式。這種協調不僅提高了效率，也減少了客戶的摩擦。

One platform. This is where it all comes together with the culmination of several years of development. WPP OPEN is the operational backbone of our business that is powered by Open Intelligence. This platform is more than workflow automation. It's how we deliver media infused with AI and supported by one of the most advanced data models in the industry. We now have more data than any of our competition, reaching 5 billion consumers, connecting intelligence of all forms, including IDs across the vast Federated ecosystem.

一個平台。這是經過數年發展後一切的總結。WPP OPEN 是我們業務的營運支柱，由 Open Intelligence 提供支援。這個平台不僅僅是工作流程自動化。這就是我們提供融合人工智慧並由業界最先進的資料模型之一支援的媒體的方式。現在，我們擁有的數據比任何競爭對手都多，覆蓋 50 億消費者，連接各種形式的情報，包括龐大的聯邦生態系統中的 ID。

Our platform connects hundreds of data sources, publisher, retail, platform, client structured and unstructured and extracts insight through Federated Learning and AI native tools. That's how we move from reactive to predictive by optimizing hindsight to anticipate what's next. It's what will separate us from our competitors and allow us to operate at speed for our clients.

我們的平台連接數百個資料來源、出版商、零售商、平台、客戶結構化和非結構化數據，並透過聯邦學習和人工智慧原生工具提取洞察力。這就是我們如何透過優化後見之明來預測下一步，從而從被動反應轉向主動預測。這使得我們與競爭對手區分開來，並使我們能夠快速為客戶提供服務。

This isn't theoretical. It's live, it's adopted, and it's already delivering measurable value for our clients. For our brands in a highly impulsive category, our platform used behavioral signals like commuting patterns and content consumption habits to identify moments of peak buying potential. That campaign drove a 10x improvement in reach to high propensity buyers. In another case, we doubled in-store sales for a CPG brand by predicting exactly when and where to engage Gen Z shoppers near retail hotspots.

這不是理論上的。它已上線，已被採用，並且已經為我們的客戶提供了可衡量的價值。對於屬於高度衝動類別的品牌，我們的平台使用通勤模式和內容消費習慣等行為訊號來識別購買潛力高峰的時刻。該活動使高傾向購買者的覆蓋率提高了 10 倍。在另一個案例中，我們透過準確預測何時何地在零售熱點附近吸引 Z 世代購物者，使 CPG 品牌的店內銷售額翻了一番。

Technology without people is just potential. Since our last update, we've reshaped our organization around this vision. Today, WPP Media is a fundamentally different company than it was a year ago, not just in name. We centralized leadership where it matters and empowered local markets where it counts. We have restructured teams to focus on transformation, growth and client experience. We've added world-class talent from tech, consulting and media who bring new thinking and challenge old assumptions. The result, clients no longer see a network of agencies. They see one WPP Media with a unified vision, a modern capability set and a consistent global offering.

沒有人的技術只是潛力。自上次更新以來，我們圍繞著這個願景重塑了我們的組織。如今，WPP Media 與一年前相比已發生了根本性的變化，而這不僅體現在名稱上。我們在重要的地方集中領導，並在重要的地方授權當地市場。我們已經重組了團隊，專注於轉型、成長和客戶體驗。我們吸收了來自科技、顧問和媒體領域的世界級人才，他們帶來了新的思維並挑戰了舊的假設。結果是，客戶不再看到代理商網路。他們看到了一個擁有統一願景、現代化能力和一致全球服務的 WPP Media。

Since we last spoke, we've moved from strategizing to operating, from talking about change to leading it. We have a simplified, aligned organization. We have a world-class platform, AI-enabled, future-proofed and live today. We have a client value proposition that is stronger than it's ever been.

自從我們上次談話以來，我們已經從制定策略轉向實施行動，從談論變革轉向引領變革。我們的組織結構簡化且協調一致。我們擁有世界一流的平台，支援人工智慧，面向未來，目前仍在使用。我們的客戶價值主張比以往任何時候都更強大。

We've built a global platform that meets the unique needs of multinational advertisers, while unlocking the benefits of those investments for clients in every market and creating more opportunities for value-added proprietary offerings within that platform.

我們建立了一個全球平台，可以滿足跨國廣告商的獨特需求，同時為每個市場的客戶釋放這些投資的收益，並為該平台內的增值專有產品創造更多機會。

Now our focus is execution at scale, growth with discipline, leadership through performance and, as always, the client at the heart of everything we do. We have the team, the process, the platform and the opportunity. I'm incredibly proud of what we've built and excited about what's ahead. Thank you, and I look forward to continuing this journey together.

現在我們的重點是規模執行、有紀律的成長、透過績效發揮領導力，以及一如既往地以客戶為中心。我們擁有團隊、流程、平台和機會。我為我們所取得的成就感到無比自豪，並對未來充滿期待。謝謝大家，我期待著繼續一起踏上這段旅程。

Now I will hand it back over to the team in London, and I look forward to your questions during the Q&A.

現在我將把會議交還給倫敦的團隊，期待大家在問答環節提問。

Yes. Thank you, Brian. So as we all know, the work that you and your team at WPP Media doing is critical to getting us back to where we need to be in terms of growth and also strengthening our long-term competitive position. And we wanted to do here today, so that the financial community can see the strategic focus on data and technology within our Media business and the progress that you're making. We have great confidence that WPP Media will not just catch up, but in time, lead the market in terms of a data-driven media operation.

是的。謝謝你，布萊恩。眾所周知，您和 WPP Media 團隊所做的工作對於我們重返成長所需的水平以及加強我們的長期競爭地位至關重要。我們今天在這裡這樣做，是為了讓金融界能夠看到我們媒體業務對數據和技術的策略重點以及所取得的進展。我們堅信，WPP Media 不僅能夠迎頭趕上，而且最終能夠在數據驅動媒體營運方面引領市場。

So turning to the summary. As you know, I announced in June that I plan to stand down after seven years as CEO, and I'm delighted to be handing over to Cindy Rose, who will be taking over on September 1. And I have to say WPP is an incredible company. And while I know well that we have immediate challenges, we also have tremendous assets, not least our people and our clients.

現在回到總結。如你們所知，我於今年 6 月宣布，我計劃在擔任執行長七年後卸任，我很高興將職位移交給辛蒂羅斯 (Cindy Rose)，她將於 9 月 1 日接任。我必須說 WPP 是一家令人難以置信的公司。儘管我很清楚我們面臨直接的挑戰，但我們也擁有龐大的資產，尤其是我們的員工和客戶。

And I thought it would be helpful for me to end my last call of many, I must say, with my reflections on where we are as an industry and as WPP and why I'm positive about the outlook, both for our industry and for WPP.

我認為，在我最後一次通話結束時，反思一下我們行業和 WPP 的現狀，以及我為什麼對我們行業和 WPP 的前景持樂觀態度，這對我很有幫助。

Taking a step back in our industry, I firmly believe that what we do collectively is critical to our clients, the world's largest companies and, in WPP's case, the world's five most valuable businesses. These global organizations rely on us to help them build their brands, manage their reputation, sell their product, get high rankings in search engines, sell in retail channels, design their packaging identities and produce their work. And yes, increasing to advise them on how to adapt to an AI world and how to take advantage of it in their marketing to drive higher returns and reduce cost.

回顧我們的行業，我堅信，我們共同所做的工作對於我們的客戶、世界上最大的公司以及 WPP 的全球五大最有價值的企業至關重要。這些全球性組織依靠我們幫助他們建立品牌、管理聲譽、銷售產品、在搜尋引擎中獲得高排名、在零售通路銷售、設計包裝標誌並製作作品。是的，我們會不斷為他們提供建議，告訴他們如何適應人工智慧世界，以及如何在行銷中利用人工智慧來獲得更高的回報並降低成本。

We said in more than two years that AI is no doubt going to fundamentally change what we do and how we do it. It's also going to give us new opportunities, as technology has always done in the past. And I'd say that at least half of the jobs in WPP today were not in the company 10 years ago, and that will be increasingly true in the future.

我們在兩年多前就說過，人工智慧無疑將從根本上改變我們的工作內容和工作方式。正如科技在過去一直發揮的作用一樣，它也將為我們帶來新的機會。我想說，如今 WPP 中至少有一半的職位在 10 年前是不存在的，而且這種情況在未來會越來越明顯。

But I still believe our clients will need the creativity, the strategic judgment, the objectivity and insights that we and our industry bring them if they're going to successfully differentiate themselves from competition and navigate an increasingly complex media and technology landscape.

但我仍然相信，如果我們的客戶想要成功地在競爭中脫穎而出，並在日益複雜的媒體和技術環境中前行，他們就需要我們和我們的行業為他們帶來的創造力、策略判斷、客觀性和洞察力。

That's what our industry does, what I believe it will continue to do in the future, even if it is in a very different form and with much more data and technology. And just as we've adapted in the past, we will adapt in the future.

這就是我們的行業所做的，我相信它在未來將繼續這樣做，即使它的形式非常不同，並且擁有更多的數據和技術。正如我們過去適應一樣，我們將來也會適應。

So yes, AI will change how we work. But if we embrace it fully, it needs to enhance our people and human expertise, then I believe we'll make it stronger, bring new business opportunities and create more value for our clients and, in the long run, more value for our shareholders as well.

所以是的，人工智慧將改變我們的工作方式。但如果我們完全接受它，它需要增強我們的人員和人力專業知識，那麼我相信我們會使它變得更強大，帶來新的商業機會，為我們的客戶創造更多價值，從長遠來看，也為我們的股東創造更多價值。

I believe the critical question is how ready is WPP for this AI-powered future. And there, the answer is I believe we are very well prepared and certainly as well, if not better prepared as anyone in our industry.

我認為關鍵問題是 WPP 為這個人工智慧驅動的未來做好了多大的準備。答案是，我相信我們已經做好了充分的準備，而且我們的準備肯定不遜色於業內任何人，甚至比任何人都更充分。

And let's go through that on slide 25. And to start with, we're a much simpler company. Today, six brands make up close to 95% of WPP's business. That's important as we're much more integrated, no longer organized in analog and digital silos.

讓我們在第 25 張投影片上看一下。首先，我們是一家非常簡單的公司。如今，六個品牌佔據了 WPP 業務的近 95%。這很重要，因為我們的整合程度更高，不再以類比和數位孤島的形式組織。

But its importance goes beyond this, though, that this is a simpler company allows us to move faster to take out structural costs, to focus our resources on clients and to deploy technology much more quickly across the business. The work that Brian and his team have been done -- doing in WPP Media this year may have been disruptive, but it's been necessary work, and we set WPP Media as a much stronger organization to deliver to clients in the future.

但它的重要性遠不止於此，這是一家更簡單的公司，使我們能夠更快地消除結構性成本，將資源集中在客戶身上，並在整個業務中更快地部署技術。Brian 和他的團隊今年在 WPP Media 所做的工作可能有些混亂，但這是必要的工作，我們將 WPP Media 打造為更強大的組織，以便在未來為客戶提供服務。

And beside these things, we've not been adapting our client-facing organization. We also brought together our technology teams and dozens of teams across WPP as one product organization with a common vision. And similar work has been done in production with Hogarth, in our offshore development teams in India and our global development centers and our commerce capabilities in WPP Commerce, which as Unite won the Unilever Media Shopper Work last year.

除此之外，我們還沒有調整面對客戶的組織。我們還將我們的技術團隊和 WPP 的數十個團隊整合為一個具有共同願景的產品組織。我們在與 Hogarth 合作的生產過程中、在印度的離岸開發團隊和全球開發中心以及 WPP Commerce 的商業能力中也開展了類似的工作，WPP Commerce 去年作為 Unite 贏得了聯合利華媒體購物者工作。

Secondly, we have a transformed offer. When we use the word creative to describe our agencies, I don't think it captures the work that they do that goes way beyond television ads. Our agencies like VML and Ogilvy have completely transformed the work that they do, developing great ideas that work on TikTok and YouTube as well or better than they do on NBC or ITV.

其次，我們有一個轉變後的報價。當我們使用「創意」這個詞來描述我們的代理商時，我認為它並沒有涵蓋他們所做的超出電視廣告範圍的工作。我們的代理商，例如 VML 和 Ogilvy，已經徹底改變了他們的工作方式，開發出在 TikTok 和 YouTube 上效果與在 NBC 或 ITV 上一樣好甚至更好的優秀創意。

We now lead our industry, in my view, for our creative reputation. And here, I should call out the efforts of Rob Reilly and our creative leaders. While awards are side products of great work, not an end in themselves, our clients who work -- led WPP being awarded Creative Company of the Year at Cannes come to us because of the creative quality of the work that we do for them. And I continue to believe that will be even more critical in an AI-driven future where creativity is what will differentiate companies.

在我看來，我們如今憑藉著富有創造力的聲譽引領著業界。在這裡，我要讚揚羅布·賴利和我們的創意領袖們的努力。雖然獎項是偉大作品的副產品，而不是最終目的，但我們的客戶選擇我們——WPP 榮獲坎城年度創意公司獎——是因為我們為他們所做的工作富有創意。我仍然相信，在人工智慧驅動的未來，這一點將變得更加重要，因為創造力才是企業脫穎而出的關鍵。

And despite its challenges this year, WPP Media remains the world's leading media industry. You've heard from Brian and with new leadership, a new AI-led approach to data aimed to leapfrog legacy systems, I firmly believe that when the new business environment picks up, they will convert strongly.

儘管今年面臨挑戰，WPP Media 仍然是全球媒體產業的領導者。您已經聽說了 Brian 的說法，在新領導層的帶領下，我們將採用一種新的人工智慧主導的數據方法，旨在超越遺留系統，我堅信，當新的商業環境復甦時，他們將會強勁轉變。

We've also built a strong technology service offer. VML Enterprise Solutions is now a $1.5 billion business, offering e-commerce, CRM, marketing automation operations to companies around the world with strong practice with Adobe, Salesforce, Braze and the other marketing technology companies. Similarly, AKQA combines creativity, innovation and technology now with new leadership joining us, as I said, from Accenture.

我們也建立了強大的技術服務體系。VML Enterprise Solutions 目前是一家價值 15 億美元的企業，為世界各地的公司提供電子商務、CRM 和行銷自動化營運服務，並與 Adob​​e、Salesforce、Braze 和其他行銷技術公司有著良好的合作。同樣，AKQA 將創造力、創新和技術融為一體，正如我所說，現在有來自埃森哲的新領導層加入我們。

Our production business, Hogarth, is now the market leader in production globally. I don't think it always gets the credit that it deserves. It's actually been the fastest-growing capability within WPP, all delivered entirely organically and in partnership with our agencies.

我們的生產業務 Hogarth 現在是全球生產市場的領導者。我認為它並不總是能得到應有的讚譽。它實際上是 WPP 內部成長最快的能力，所有功能均完全由我們與代理商合作有機實現。

There's also Burson, now the world's second largest public relations company with new leadership now beyond the merger within Burson, starting to win some major client assignments.

還有博雅公關公司，目前是全球第二大公關公司，在博雅內部合併之後，新的領導階層開始贏得一些主要客戶任務。

And finally, and where necessary come with discipline. We've invested early in new areas like influencer marketing, making acquisitions of agencies like DoT, Village and obviously. As a result, our client satisfaction scores has improved, and they are now at the highest level since I became CEO.

最後，必要時要遵守紀律。我們很早就開始在影響力行銷等新領域進行投資，並收購了 DoT、Village 等代理商。因此，我們的客戶滿意度得分有所提高，目前已達到我擔任執行長以來的最高水準。

We see that in the growth of our largest clients in the first half of this year, which continued to grow despite the overall disappointing performance. And we get better at telling the story to prospective clients in my view.

我們看到，今年上半年我們最大的客戶實現了成長，儘管整體表現令人失望，但仍持續成長。在我看來，我們能夠更好地向潛在客戶講述故事。

Thirdly, WPP is in a much more solid financial footing. We've moved from a situation where we're heavily indebted to a significantly firmer financial footing while returning over GBP5.5 billion to shareholders.

第三，WPP 的財務基礎更加穩固。我們已經擺脫了負債累累的境地，財務狀況明顯改善，同時向股東返還了超過 55 億英鎊。

We shouldn't forget the role that Kantar played in this. We sold a $4 billion valuation to Bain Capital, giving us financial security to navigate COVID. We still have a valuable and some overlooked 40% interest in the company. And then the FGS Global, which we created with Roland and his management team sold to KKR, creating close to $1 billion in value for WPP.

我們不應該忘記凱度在其中扮演的角色。我們向貝恩資本出售了 40 億美元的估值，為我們應對新冠疫情提供了財務保障。我們仍然擁有該公司 40% 的寶貴但被忽視的權益。然後，我們與羅蘭及其管理團隊共同創建的 FGS Global 出售給了 KKR，為 WPP 創造了近 10 億美元的價值。

But my fourth and final most important reason being positive is our investment in AI. There's no doubt in my mind or that of our Board that AI will be fundamental to WPP's success in the future. We've been investing significantly in that.

但我的第四個也是最後一個最重要的正面原因是我們對人工智慧的投資。我和董事會都堅信，人工智慧對於 WPP 未來的成功至關重要。我們一直在對此進行大量投資。

And if I can be competitive and highlight what I believe are our strengths, Firstly, we've taken a very broad strategic approach to AI. We haven't looked at it just as a data opportunity or just in our media or our production business. We consider the impact of AI on the end-to-end marketing process. And over time, the comprehensiveness of our approach will be a source of increasing competitive advantage and disciplines integrate.

如果我可以具有競爭力並強調我認為我們的優勢，首先，我們對人工智慧採取了非常廣泛的策略方針。我們並沒有將其僅僅視為一個數據機會，或僅僅將其視為我們的媒體或生產業務。我們考慮人工智慧對端到端行銷流程的影響。隨著時間的推移，我們方法的全面性將成為提高競爭優勢和學科整合的來源。

Secondly, we've built into WPP Open, a single AI-powered marketing platform that spans the whole of WPP, something we struggled to do for many years. WPP Open now powers our work, delivering the best AI solution at the right time. As I said earlier, we have 69,000 people using AI in their work. I don't believe there's many companies of our size or scale that have deployed it at that size.

其次，我們打造了 WPP Open，一個涵蓋整個 WPP 的單一人工智慧行銷平台，這是我們多年來一直努力實現的。WPP Open 現在為我們的工作提供支持，在適當的時間提供最佳的 AI 解決方案。正如我之前所說，我們有 69,000 人在工作中使用人工智慧。我不相信有很多像我們這樣規模或規模的公司能夠大規模地部署它。

And finally, our acquisition of Satalia has been critical to our efforts, and the expertise that they bring in the application of AI, I think, has really helped us build this differentiated platform.

最後，收購 Satalia 對我們的努力至關重要，我認為他們在人工智慧應用方面帶來的專業知識確實幫助我們建立了這個差異化的平台。

Now I know that for many, AI is the source of concern for WPP. There's a fear that as an hour space business, for many people, this is going to be value disruptive. I take a somewhat different position, which is that if we embrace it and we make our people use it, it will add more value to our clients. And if we can create more work more quickly, that will create additional value. It's going to open up new opportunities and new horizons for WPP.

現在我知道，對很多人來說，人工智慧是 WPP 擔憂的根源。人們擔心，作為一個小時空間業務，對許多人來說，這將會破壞其價值。我持稍微不同的立場，那就是如果我們接受它並讓我們的員工使用它，它將為我們的客戶增加更多價值。如果我們能夠更快地創造更多的工作，那將會創造額外的價值。這將為 WPP 開闢新的機會和新視野。

And overall, my observation will be that those parts of our business that have best embraced technology, our Media and Production business have been the strongest, and AI offers the opportunity to bring data and technology to all of WPP, particularly our Creative businesses. And I believe that, that will make us collectively stronger.

總體而言，我的觀察是，我們業務中最好地採用技術的部分，我們的媒體和製作業務一直是最強大的，而人工智慧為 WPP 的所有部門，特別是我們的創意業務，提供了將數據和技術帶入的機會。我相信，這將使我們變得更強大。

So turning to slide 26. I do believe that WPP is making significant slides -- strides in getting ready for the future. That said, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind or that of our management team that we have work to do. We have to strengthen WPP Media and deliver on the promise of WPP Open and Open Intelligence that Brian outlined.

現在翻到第 26 張投影片。我確實相信 WPP 正在取得重大進展——為未來做好準備。話雖如此，我和我們的管理團隊都堅信我們還有很多工作要做。我們必須加強 WPP Media，兌現 Brian 概述的 WPP Open 和 Open Intelligence 的承諾。

Clients need to see the power of our new data approach and how we can use it to drive stronger returns. We have to improve our new business conversion, so new clients can see the strength of our offer, the quality of our work and our ability to work across WPP to deliver integrated solutions that our existing clients see that is reflected in our client satisfaction scores.

客戶需要看到我們新數據方法的力量以及我們如何利用它來獲得更強勁的回報。我們必須提高新業務的轉換率，以便新客戶能夠看到我們提供的服務的優勢、我們工作的品質以及我們與 WPP 合作提供整合解決方案的能力，而我們的現有客戶則看到這些都反映在我們的客戶滿意度評分中。

And as I said before, we have to embrace the opportunities and challenges of AI. But I firmly believe that we come out this challenge with an extremely strong set of capabilities, a well-balanced offer across creative, production and media. We're a leader in AI and technology. We have a unique global footprint with partner to the world's largest clients, four of the world's five most valuable companies, we have an extremely strong bench of talent and culture that takes us into the future.

正如我之前所說，我們必須擁抱人工智慧帶來的機會和挑戰。但我堅信，我們能夠憑藉極其強大的能力以及在創意、製作和媒體領域均衡的資源來應對這項挑戰。我們是人工智慧和技術領域的領導者。我們擁有獨特的全球影響力，與世界上最大的客戶、全球五大最有價值公司中的四家都有合作，我們擁有極其強大的人才和文化，帶領我們走向未來。

So to wrap up, I'd like to end by thanking our people. You are, I think, what I will miss most in the next chapter, and I wish you all the best. I know that the past six months have been challenging, but if we approach the future with the same determination as we did in COVID and the many other challenges we face, then we will succeed.

最後，我想向我們的員工表示感謝。我想，你是我在下一章中最想念的人，我祝你一切順利。我知道過去六個月充滿挑戰，但如果我們以應對新冠疫情和麵臨的許多其他挑戰時的決心對待未來，那麼我們就會成功。

It has been, I would say, a privilege to lead this great company and the successes that we have all down to you. I'll be handing over to Cindy in a few weeks, and I'm sure that you and our clients are in very good hands.

我想說，能夠領導這家偉大的公司是我的榮幸，我們的成功都歸功於您。我將在幾週後將工作移交給 Cindy，我相信您和我們的客戶都會得到很好的照顧。

So thank you all very much for listening. And now we're ready to take your questions.

非常感謝大家的聆聽。現在我們準備好回答你們的問題了。

(Operator Instructions) Laura Metayer, Morgan Stanley.

（操作員指示） 摩根士丹利的 Laura Metayer。

Mark, it's been a pleasure to interact with you, and my best wishes for the next step in your career. Three questions from me, please. The first one is on the pricing environment. What are you seeing in terms of pricing in this challenging macro environment? Would you say there are some pressures, or it's been relatively flat?

馬克，很高興與您交流，並祝福您的職業生涯一切順利。請問我三個問題。第一個是關於定價環境。在這種充滿挑戰的宏觀環境下，您認為定價方面有何變化？您認為存在一些壓力嗎，還是說情況相對穩定？

Second question is, can you tell us a little bit more about your product offering in influencer marketing? One of your competitors acquired a relatively large influencer platform, so I was wondering if you believe you need to make more acquisitions in this space or if you have already the required capabilities. And how do you see this market evolving more broadly?

第二個問題是，您能否向我們詳細介紹您在影響力行銷方面提供的產品？您的一個競爭對手收購了一個相對較大的影響力平台，所以我想知道您是否認為需要在這個領域進行更多收購，或者您是否已經具備了所需的能力。您如何看待這個市場更廣泛的發展？

And then lastly, can you tell us a little bit more about the one-off that you mentioned that negatively impacted H1 '25?

最後，您能否向我們詳細介紹您提到的對 2025 年上半年產生負面影響的一次性事件？

Thank you, Laura. Thanks for your wishes. I'll take the first two questions and then Joanne can add anything she like on pricing and talk about the one-off.

謝謝你，勞拉。謝謝你的祝福。我將回答前兩個問題，然後喬安妮可以就定價添加任何她想說的內容並談論一次性的事情。

Look, I think our industry has always been very competitive, and it remains competitive. And I think to some extent, the larger the review, the more competitive it becomes. And there has been, perhaps in a slower new business environment, a slightly tougher financial environment.

我認為我們的行業一直競爭非常激烈，而且現在仍然如此。我認為從某種程度上來說，評審規模越大，競爭就越激烈。也許是因為新商業環境放緩，金融環境也變得稍微艱難。

I think our job is to respond to that. But I think we do find that as we win clients and expand scopes, we can address some of the pricing issues that inevitably come. I think we will see with AI, and one of the things we're doing is using WPP Open to demonstrate to clients how we can deliver work more quickly and more efficiently. And I think that will be a source of competitive advantage for us in responding to some of the pricing challenges.

我認為我們的工作就是對此作出回應。但我認為我們確實發現，隨著我們贏得客戶並擴大範圍，我們可以解決一些不可避免的定價問題。我認為我們將透過人工智慧看到這一點，我們正在做的事情之一就是使用 WPP Open 向客戶展示我們如何更快、更有效率地完成工作。我認為這將成為我們應對一些定價挑戰的競爭優勢來源。

In terms of influencer marketing, look, I think we're very confident in the strength of the offer that we have. We won a number of assignments. I would call out L'Oreal and other clients. We acquired three businesses, I mentioned actually on Goat inside WPP Media that focuses on using influencer marketing to drive business success for clients to have a global platform and some scale.

就影響力行銷而言，我認為我們對所提供產品的實力非常有信心。我們贏得了許多任務。我會呼叫歐萊雅和其他客戶。我們收購了三家企業，我實際上提到 WPP Media 內部的 Goat，該公司專注於利用影響力行銷來推動客戶的業務成功，從而擁有全球平台和一定規模。

We acquired a smaller business, Village, about three or four years ago into what's now VML and an extremely talented team. They do all the work for Kamala Harris around the DMC. And while ultimately she wasn't successful, obviously, in the election, I think that work was recognized as sort of at least starting her campaign in a very positive position.

大約三、四年前，我們收購了一家規模較小的企業 Village，並將其整合到現在的 VML 旗下，並組建了一支極具才華的團隊。他們為卡瑪拉·哈里斯 (Kamala Harris) 完成了 DMC 周圍的所有工作。雖然她最終顯然沒有在選舉中取得成功，但我認為這項工作至少為她的競選活動提供了一個非常積極的開端。

We have obviously another strong influencer business. And actually, Ogilvy has built one of the strongest influencer businesses totally organically. So I don't think we're in a situation where we need to make acquisitions, and clients can get everything that they need for us from an influencer position in terms of the capabilities that we have today. And we've probably been slightly ahead of some of the competition in terms of making those acquisitions.

我們顯然還有另一個強大的影響力業務。事實上，奧美已經完全有機地建立了最強大的影響力業務之一。因此，我認為我們不需要進行收購，而且就我們目前的能力而言，客戶可以從有影響力的人那裡獲得他們需要的一切。在進行這些收購方面，我們可能略微領先一些競爭對手。

Joanne, will you take the financial questions?

喬安妮，你能回答財務問題嗎？

Yes. So Laura, thanks for the question. On one-off factors, the related to contractual obligations in our Media business and impacted Western Continental Europe. Given the nature that we don't expect them to repeat in the balance of the year, we've called the market because it was meaningful in Q2 and, therefore, helpful to understand the Q2 relative performance.

是的。勞拉，謝謝你的提問。一次性因素與我們的媒體業務的合約義務有關，並影響了西歐大陸。鑑於我們預計它們不會在今年餘下時間裡重複出現，我們之所以呼籲市場關注這一情況，是因為它在第二季度意義重大，因此有助於了解第二季度的相對錶現。

But from a full year perspective, they will obviously be less meaningful.

但從全年來看，其意義顯然會小一些。

Adam Berlin, UBS.

瑞銀集團的亞當柏林。

I want to also wish Mark the best for the future. A few questions, if I can. The first is on Hogarth. You talked, Mark, about how that's been a real source of growth. But I did notice that in the first half, it was only flat. And I think given people's concerns about AI and the progress people are making using AI to do production, could you explain a bit more why Hogarth was flat? And why we've seen that deceleration in Hogarth, just to -- is there an AI impact there? Or is it just to do with the overall market slowdown? So that's the first question.

我也祝福馬克未來一切順利。如果可以的話，我問幾個問題。第一個是關於霍加斯的。馬克，您談到了這是如何成為真正的成長來源的。但我確實注意到，在上半場，情況只是持平。我認為，考慮到人們對人工智慧的擔憂以及人們在利用人工智慧進行生產方面取得的進展，您能否進一步解釋為什麼 Hogarth 表現平平？為什麼我們看到霍加斯的發展速度減慢了，這是否受到了人工智慧的影響？或者這僅僅與整體市場放緩有關？這是第一個問題。

Second, I want to ask Brian about his comments around data within WPP Media. I think you said that you have more data than your competitors. I think people would find that surprising because, obviously, purposes of Epson and IPG of Acxiom, which seem to be kind of large data assets. Can you talk a little bit about what you mean by that? Like what data do you have that they don't have? How do you -- where do you get this data from that they don't have access to? Just trying to unpack that comment a little bit because I'd just like to understand better what you mean.

其次，我想問 Brian 對 WPP Media 內部數據的看法。我認為您說過您擁有比競爭對手更多的數據。我認為人們會對此感到驚訝，因為顯然，愛普生和 Acxiom 的 IPG 的目的似乎是一種大數據資產。能稍微談談這是什麼意思嗎？例如，您擁有哪些他們沒有的數據？您如何—您從哪裡獲得這些他們無法存取的資料？我只是想稍微解釋一下這個評論，因為我只是想更好地理解你的意思。

And then thirdly, I'll ask, you cut staff incentives in H1 by about 60%. I know some of that was M&A. Is that the right way to be thinking about H2 as well? Just to understand the plan there on the current guidance.

第三，我想問一下，你們在上半年削減了約 60% 的員工獎勵。我知道其中一些是併購。這也是思考 H2 的正確方式嗎？只是為了了解當前指導下的計劃。

Okay. So I'll take the Hogarth question. I think Joanne can take, because she's in the room with me, the second -- third question. Then we would leave Brian to end on Peter.

好的。所以我來回答一下霍加斯的問題。我認為喬安妮可以回答第二個——第三個問題，因為她和我同在一個房間。然後我們讓布萊恩來結束彼得的採訪。

But I think in terms of Hogarth, we have seen continued structural growth. There are -- as I mentioned, it's been a very volatile client environment, and we've seen lots of clients -- I've never seen -- divergence in performance in time, some growing and some cutting back, and Hogarth has been, to some extent, the victim of some timing issues on product launches for some clients. So I don't think there's anything there.

但我認為，就霍加斯而言，我們已經看到了持續的結構性成長。正如我所提到的，客戶環境非常不穩定，我們看到很多客戶——我從未見過——在時間上的表現出現分歧，有的客戶在增長，有的客戶在削減，而 Hogarth 在某種程度上成為一些客戶產品發佈時機問題的受害者。所以我不認為那裡有任何東西。

There's nothing there in terms of impact of AI. I think the impact of AI in Hogarth business will only be positive, and I'll give you a good example. We recently took a client -- I can't tell you client's Super Bowl commercial that they shot, and we remade it using Google VO2 insight Hogarth. And if you run the two commercial side by side, people can't tell -- people don't know which one was done with AI and which one was done in a real shoot. And I think that's sort of a tremendous growth opportunity for Hogarth. Currently, we don't produce television commercials. But actually, this gives us the ability to produce even more work. And we did actually for CoreWave create a commercial entirely in AI as they run on -- in a network television in the US.

就人工智慧的影響而言，那裡什麼都沒有。我認為人工智慧對 Hogarth 業務的影響只會是積極，我給你一個很好的例子。我們最近接待了一位客戶——我無法告訴你客戶拍攝的超級盃廣告，我們使用 Google VO2 insight Hogarth 重新製作了它。如果你把這兩部廣告放在一起播放，人們根本分辨不出來——人們不知道哪一部是用人工智慧製作的，哪一部是在真實拍攝中製作的。我認為這對 Hogarth 來說是一個巨大的成長機會。目前，我們不製作電視廣告。但實際上，這讓我們有能力完成更多的工作。我們確實為 CoreWave 製作了一個完全採用人工智慧的廣告，並在美國的一個網路電視上播放。

So I think AI will be a source of growth for Hogarth. And I think what we're seeing is really just largely timing issue on projects within their business.

所以我認為人工智慧將成為 Hogarth 的成長來源。我認為，我們看到的實際上主要是他們業務中專案的時間安排問題。

Joanne, do you want to tackle the question, then we'll go to Brian?

喬安妮，你想先解決這個問題，然後我們再去找布萊恩嗎？

Yes. So on the incentives, we are a performance-based business. And in the first half, the results of incentives is really mechanical, and it reflects the performance in the first half. And I would expect for the full year, based on our outlook for incentives, will be down. We'll confirm by how much at the full year. But we are very sensitive to the importance of motivating and retaining our top talent. And we do review our incentives on a discretionary basis when we have the full year results, and this is reflected in our planning assumptions.

是的。因此，就激勵措施而言，我們是一家基於績效的企業。而上半年的激勵效果其實是比較機械性的，反映的是上半年的表現。根據我們的激勵前景，我預計全年銷售額將會下降。我們將在全年確認具體金額。但我們非常清楚激勵和留住頂尖人才的重要性。當我們獲得全年業績時，我們會視情況審查我們的激勵措施，這反映在我們的規劃假設中。

Adam, on your question about data, what I would say is we have more data than other holding companies because we think about how to incorporate data into our performance model differently. The business for 20 years has focused on how much traditional legacy CRM data you can collect in a database. And that notion of collecting legacy data is increasingly under pressure as what we do evolves to go beyond just paid media on traditional channels to include things like content development, influencer marketing, retail media.

亞當，關於你提到的數據問題，我想說的是，我們比其他控股公司擁有更多的數據，因為我們以不同的方式思考如何將數據納入我們的績效模型中。20 年來，該業務一直專注於在資料庫中收集多少傳統遺留 CRM 資料。隨著我們的工作範圍逐漸超越傳統管道的付費媒體，涵蓋內容開發、影響力行銷、零售媒體等，收集遺留資料的想法也面臨越來越大的壓力。

And so our model, which is called Open Intelligence, has the same amount of traditional identity data, but also includes hundreds of other partners, including data companies and media companies. And we use InfoSum and a technology called Federated Learning to learn from those sources of data, so that we can more accurately predict the performance of campaigns before we run those campaigns.

因此，我們的模型稱為開放智能，它擁有相同數量的傳統身分數據，但也包括數百個其他合作夥伴，包括數據公司和媒體公司。我們使用 InfoSum 和一種稱為聯合學習的技術從這些資料來源中學習，以便我們能夠在開展活動之前更準確地預測活動的效果。

So we have the identity data for the traditional approach to digital advertising. And we also have hundreds of data partners that help us better understand consumer behavior to drive performance. And we've seen that outperform our competition on existing campaign.

因此，我們擁有用於傳統數位廣告方式的身份數據。我們還有數百個數據合作夥伴幫助我們更了解消費者行為，進而提高績效。我們已經看到，我們在現有活動中的表現優於競爭對手。

I want to ask, Brian, if you could just give an example of like one of those data providers would be just to bring it to life a bit more.

我想問一下，布萊恩，你是否可以舉一個例子，例如其中一個數據提供商，以便讓它更生動一些。

Sure. There are providers like Google, like Amazon, like TikTok, traditionally considered walled gardens of information. If you were to ask many media companies to spend data into a central database, of course, they would be reluctant to do that.

當然。像谷歌、亞馬遜、TikTok 這樣的提供者傳統上被認為是資訊的圍牆花園。如果你要求許多媒體公司將資料存入中央資料庫，他們當然不願意這麼做。

But using InfoSum and technologies like Federated Learning, we can learn from those data sets without having to centralize the data and own it and broker data, which is a business we'd rather not be in.

但是使用 InfoSum 和聯邦學習等技術，我們可以從這些數據集中學習，而不必集中數據、擁有數據和代理數據，這是我們不願意參與的業務。

Annick Maas, Bernstein.

安妮克·馬斯，伯恩斯坦。

My first question, maybe it's a bit too early, but can you just talk to us potentially about what the dividend reset means for the dividend strategy going forward?

我的第一個問題，也許現在問得有點早，但您能否跟我們談談股息重置對未來的股息策略意味著什麼？

My second one is on staff turnover. So I guess, in recent months, you've also seen some senior staff departures. And I kind of want to understand, I guess, with the senior staff -- people usually come very high -- come with a good client relationship. So how have you accounted for potential client losses because of the senior staff departures?

我的第二個問題是員工流動率。所以我想，最近幾個月，你也看到了一些高階職員的離職。我想了解一下，高級職員——他們的職位通常很高——與客戶的關係很好。那麼，您如何解釋由於高級職員離職而導致的潛在客戶損失？

And then my next question is for Mark. I guess, if you take a step back and if you think about what -- if you knew when you started what you know today about AI, about the industry, about tariffs, how would you have differently approached WPP when you became CEO?

我的下一個問題是問馬克的。我想，如果你退一步思考一下——如果你在創業之初就知道今天對人工智慧、對產業、對關稅的了解，那麼當你成為執行長時，你會如何以不同的方式對待 WPP？

Okay. Why don't I start there and maybe -- look, I think looking back seven years, there's obviously things I would do differently. I mean, you would be -- I won't be human to say, but you wouldn't do some things differently. I think like most CEOs, every year have ever spoken to, they always do all the things that work more quickly, and none of those things that didn't work. And I think in my case, I'm sure there are things that I would do differently and things I would do more quickly.

好的。我為什麼不從那裡開始呢？也許——看，我想回顧七年，顯然我會做一些不同的事情。我的意思是，你會——我不是人類，但你不會以不同的方式做某些事情。我認為，就像每年採訪過的大多數 CEO 一樣，他們總是會更快地完成所有有效的事情，而不會做任何無效的事情。我認為就我而言，我確信有些事情我會做得不同，有些事情我會做得更快。

I think as I tried to summarize, I think the direction that we have taken the business to integrate it more, to integrate analog and digital, to put technology at the core, to focus on the quality of the work have all been the right steps. And probably, as you say, inevitably, one should done those things more quickly, except what has been successful.

我想，正如我試圖總結的那樣，我認為我們採取的業務方向，即進一步整合業務、整合模擬和數位、以技術為核心、專注於工作質量，都是正確的步驟。而且可能正如您所說，除了已經成功的事情之外，人們不可避免地應該更快地完成這些事情。

I do think that the brand structure that we have has been effective. And I think that they still remain important, but they need to be more brands, less companies. And in order to manage talent, not to manage the organization. So I think there's all directions in which I'm not going to set the strategy for Cindy or ever comment on it in any way. I think there's all directions I'm sure that she will look at to actually take the company.

我確實認為我們現有的品牌結構是有效的。我認為它們仍然很重要，但它們需要更多的品牌，而不是公司。並且是為了管理人才，而不是為了管理組織。所以我認為我不會為辛迪製定任何方向的策略，也不會以任何方式對其進行評論。我認為她會從各個方面考慮來真正帶領公司。

Yes, I do think that the acquisition of Satalia will stand out as being an excellent move that we made, and many people, not just who were involved in making that decision. I think it's given us now close to 200 people who are world-class AI experts, able to build a platform with more power on what we do. And we saw the cost of seeing what the impact of AI beyond. This is probably -- that's the thing -- I mean, other than beyond the people and the client think I'm mostly seeing how we implement that.

是的，我確實認為收購 Satalia 是我們做出的一個絕妙舉措，而且很多人，不僅僅是那些參與制定這項決策的人，都認為這是一次絕妙的舉措。我認為它現在為我們提供近 200 名世界級的人工智慧專家，能夠為我們所做的事情建立一個更強大的平台。我們也看到了人工智慧未來影響的代價。這可能是——就是這樣——我的意思是，除了人們和客戶認為我主要看到的是我們如何實現這一點之外。

Joanne, do you want to tackle the other questions?

喬安妮，你想解答其他問題嗎？

Yes. So let me just start with the dividend one. So -- and where I would start is the Board and management's top priorities to drive sustainable growth. And in the context of our current performance, reducing the interim dividend gives a greater degree of financial flexibility to support that growth.

是的。那麼，我就從股息開始吧。所以——我要先談談董事會和管理階層的首要任務，也就是推動永續成長。就我們目前的業績而言，減少中期股息可以提供更大的財務靈活性來支持這一成長。

Obviously, Cindy starting on September 1, and we will review the strategy alongside her, and that will include an evaluation of our capital allocation policy and our distribution to shareholders.

顯然，辛迪將於 9 月 1 日開始與她一起審查該策略，其中包括對我們的資本配置政策和對股東的分配的評估。

The reduction of the interim dividend by 50% gives that greater flexibility, but it also reflects the importance of shareholders -- or the importance of shareholders who put on the dividend. I think it would be premature to assume that the payout biz and the half year earnings will be the basis for the ongoing policy. But of course, we will update in due course alongside the strategy.

將中期股息減少 50% 提供了更大的靈活性，但也反映了股東的重要性——或者支付股息的股東的重要性。我認為，假設支付業務和半年收益將成為持續政策的基礎還為時過早。當然，我們會適時更新策略。

And sorry, you had a second question just on staff turnover. I would say on that, there's been some staff turnover, yes, but also, we have attracted very senior strong talent into the business as well. I think it's no higher or lower than what it has been historically.

抱歉，您的第二個問題是關於員工流動率的。我想說的是，確實有一些員工流動，但是，我們也吸引了非常資深的優秀人才加入公司。我認為它不會比歷史水平高或低。

And specifically to client losses, I mean, the short answer is no. It's not driving client losses. We have a very strong team of client leaders, but our client relationships are not really based on any one individual. They are very long-standing and deep partnerships that we have across many parts of the business.

具體到客戶損失，我的意思是，簡短的回答是否定的。這不會導致客戶流失。我們擁有一支非常強大的客戶領導團隊，但我們的客戶關係實際上並沒有建立在任何個人之上。我們在業務的許多領域都建立了長期而深厚的合作關係。

Adrien de Saint Hilaire, Bank of America.

阿德里安·德·聖伊萊爾，美國銀行。

Yes. And first of all, again, extending the gratitude to Mark for all those years and then best wishes for the future. A few questions, if you don't mind. First of all, there was a piece in campaign that discussed a potential partnership between Accenture and WPP. Can you provide any comments around that?

是的。首先，再次向馬克表達我對這些年來的支持和感謝，並祝福他未來一切順利。如果您不介意的話，我有幾個問題。首先，活動中有一篇文章討論了埃森哲和 WPP 之間潛在的合作關係。您能對此發表任何評論嗎？

And then maybe some questions for Joanne. Can you comment a bit on Q3 trading to date versus the underlying minus 4.8% that you had in the second quarter? And then can we talk also about where you expect average net debt to land for the year? What's the underlying working capital outflow assumption? It was a minus 168% for the last 12 months, as you highlighted. So what are you baking in for the year?

然後也許可以問喬安妮一些問題。您能否對迄今為止第三季的交易情況與第二季的-4.8%進行比較進行一些評論？然後我們可以談談您預計今年的平均淨債務將達到多少嗎？基本的營運資本流出假設是什麼？正如您所強調的，過去 12 個月的成長率為負 168%。那麼，今年您準備要烘焙什麼呢？

And then I've got a last financial question. You said your tax rate at 31% for the year given a lower profit before tax. Do you think that's the new sustainable level going forward? Or should we go back to 29% as you rebuild profitability looking out?

我還有最後一個財務問題。您說由於稅前利潤較低，您今年的稅率為 31%。您認為這是未來新的可持續水平嗎？或者說，當您重建盈利能力時，我們應該回到 29% 嗎？

Okay. I mean, on campaign, it's an excellent publication and one I look forward to continue reading, but it's not always entirely actual at the moment and we can't comment much more beyond that.

好的。我的意思是，就競選而言，這是一本非常出色的出版物，我期待繼續閱讀，但目前它並不總是完全符合實際情況，我們無法對此發表更多評論。

Joanne, do you want to take the financial question?

喬安妮，你想回答財務問題嗎？

Yes. So just starting with Q3 trading to date, look, it's early in the quarter. Trading -- the trading environment does remain challenging, and I want to avoid getting into month-by-month detail, but there's nothing that we have seen that would change our revised guidance range.

是的。因此，從第三季交易開始到現在，仍處於本季初期。交易——交易環境確實仍然充滿挑戰，我想避免逐月詳細說明，但我們沒有看到任何會改變我們修訂後的指導範圍的跡象。

In terms of the average net debt, the average net debt has been coming down, and that partly reflects the use of the FGS proceeds to reduce debt last year. In terms of where we expect average net dent to be this year, we have guided to adjusted operating cash flow before working capital. We've guided on tax, interest, restructuring costs. We don't guide on working capital, and that's consistent with our peers.

就平均淨債務而言，平均淨債務一直在下降，這部分反映了去年使用 FGS 收益來減少債務。就我們預計今年的平均淨虧損而言，我們已經指導了營運資本前的調整後營運現金流。我們對稅收、利息、重組成本提供了指導。我們不提供營運資金指導，這與我們的同行一致。

Our working capital can fluctuate at the end of the year. We have GBP60 billion plus going through our balance sheet. And so a GBP200 million, GBP300 million movement either way is not unreasonable amounts. But we are very, very focused on continuing to reduce that average net debt as we move forward.

我們的營運資金在年底可能會波動。我們的資產負債表上有600多億英鎊。因此，無論如何，2 億英鎊、3 億英鎊的變動都不是無理的金額。但我們非常非常注重在未來繼續減少平均淨債務。

And in terms of the ETR, it was very much -- the 31% really is mechanical, reflecting the lower level of profit and the impact of nondeductible expenses. The share price reduction had a bit of an impact as well on deferred tax assets. I mean, going forward, the tax rate will really depend on business mix and level of profits. And we'll update on the 2026 rate in February.

就 ETR 而言，31% 確實是機械性的，反映了較低的利潤水平和不可扣除費用的影響。股價下跌對遞延稅項資產也產生了一定影響。我的意思是，未來稅率將真正取決於業務組合和利潤水平。我們將在二月更新2026年的利率。

Julien Roch, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的朱利安·羅奇（Julien Roch）。

First of all, Mark, best wishes on your next chapter. I think people underappreciated how much you have transformed WPP. I'll start with you. In your minus 5% to minus 3% organic guidance, what did you put in for new business and macro? If you were to lose do, I hope not, all the GBP1 billion of billings you are still defending, could it be worse than minus 5%? Or would the impact be mostly next year? If the macro is worse in Q4 in December, could it be worse than minus 5%, so kind of new business and macro parameters to lend within minus 5% to minus 3%? That's my first question.

首先，馬克，祝你接下來的篇章一切順利。我認為人們低估了你對 WPP 所做的改變。我就從你開始吧。在您的-5%至-3%的有機成長指引中，您為新業務和宏觀投入了什麼？如果您損失了（我希望不會），您仍在捍衛的 10 億英鎊的全部債務，情況會比 -5% 更糟嗎？或者影響主要會在明年？如果 12 月第四季宏觀經濟狀況更糟，可能會比負 5% 更糟，那麼新的業務和宏觀參數會在負 5% 到負 3% 之間放款嗎？這是我的第一個問題。

The second for Brian. Your single media platform is live in the US and the UK, so not globally, which means you are not done in terms of transforming WPP Media. So when do you think you'll be mostly done? Are you going to every pitch with the solutions and products you want? Is it end of '25, sometime in '26? And was Open fully operational when you pitched for Mark and PayPal?

第二個是 Brian。您的單一媒體平台僅在美國和英國上線，因此尚未覆蓋全球，這意味著您在改造 WPP 媒體方面尚未完成。那麼您認為什麼時候可以基本完成呢？你會帶著你想要的解決方案和產品去參加每一次推介嗎？是 25 年底，還是 26 年的某個時候？當你向馬克和 PayPal 推銷 Open 時，它是否已經全面投入營運了？

And lastly, probably for Joanne, how much was a gap of net sales in full year '24?

最後，對 Joanne 來說，2024 年全年淨銷售額的差距可能是多少？

Okay. Joanne, do you want to tackle those? And then we go to Brian.

好的。喬安妮，你想解決這些問題嗎？然後我們去找布萊恩。

Yes. Let me tackle 1 and 3, Julien, and then if Mark wants to build and maybe he can. On Hogarth, it was about 5% of total net sales last year. And then in terms of the guidance, as we described in July, the revision in guidance is really split roughly equally between the macro impact that we're seeing. So perhaps, we talked about that at the media.

是的。讓我先解決 1 和 3，朱利安，然後如果馬克想要建造，也許他可以。在 Hogarth，這一數字約佔去年總淨銷售額的 5%。然後就指導而言，正如我們在 7 月所描述的，指導的修訂實際上與我們看到的宏觀影響大致相同。所以也許我們在媒體上談論過這件事。

And then the 80% of net business, and we've been in that new business, it's really incremental client losses since the start of the year. And again, that's really in media. And then a weaker new business performance, driven by conversion, but also just the lower volume of new business that we're seeing.

然後是 80% 的淨業務，我們一直從事這項新業務，自今年年初以來，客戶損失確實在不斷增加。再說一遍，這確實存在於媒體中。然後，由於轉換率的上升，新業務表現較弱，而且我們看到的新業務量也較低。

Convergence talked about Media pitch volumes being a third of what they were in the first half of 2024. So there is a lower volume of that.

Convergence 表示，媒體推介量僅為 2024 年上半年的三分之一。因此其數量較少。

In new business specifically, at the start of the year, we were expecting it to be broadly flat. We're now expecting to be a drag of 100 to 150 basis points for the reasons I outlined. And if you look at it from a gross client loss perspective for the full year, we're probably expecting around 3% to 4% of the drag from that. So hopefully, that gives you some of the levers within it.

具體來說，對於新業務而言，在年初，我們預計其將基本持平。由於我所概述的原因，我們現在預計利率將下降 100 至 150 個基點。如果從全年客戶流失總量的角度來看，我們預期損失約為 3% 至 4%。所以希望這能給你一些幫助。

In terms of the reengineer, the wide range, and I think that reflects the volatility that we're seeing in the market at the lower end of that range assumes 0.7%, that's what we expect, just worse than the half and also deterioration of the underline second quarter performance. And at the top end, it's declined -- and really, there's variability within that are the macro and the continuing business was launched.

就重新設計而言，範圍很廣，我認為這反映了我們在該範圍低端看到的市場波動性，假設為 0.7%，這是我們的預期，只是比上半年更差，而且第二季度的業績也惡化了。而在高端，它已經下降了——而且實際上，宏觀和持續業務的推出存在變化。

Brian, I'll hand to you.

布萊恩，我會交給你的。

Yes, Julien, thanks for the question. In terms of the implementation of Open Media Studio, we will be substantially done with the deployment of the platform by the end of 2025. So we're prioritizing by market and by client, but that rollout is happening as we speak.

是的，朱利安，謝謝你的提問。在開放媒體工作室的實施方面，我們將在2025年底前基本完成該平台的部署。因此，我們根據市場和客戶確定優先順序，但這項推出正在進行中。

In terms of Mars, we were in the process of deploying Open Media Studio for Mars. And in terms of PayPal, we did not fit for PayPal, and we resigned the PayPal business.

在 Mars 方面，我們正在為 Mars 部署 Open Media Studio。而就PayPal來說，我們不適合PayPal，所以我們辭去了PayPal業務。

Steve Liechti, Deutsche Numis.

史蒂夫·利奇蒂（Steve Liechti），德國努米斯。

Yes. Can I just focus on the media side? Just -- and sorry if this replicates Julien's last question actually. Just on Open Intelligence rollout, just to confirm, US and UK, it's with existing clients. And then have you got any evidence in terms of pictures that you are using it for where you've had success or not at this stage? Or is it just too early where we are?

是的。我可以只關注媒體方面嗎？只是——如果這實際上重複了朱利安的最後一個問題，我很抱歉。就在開放智慧推出之際，僅需確認，美國和英國已與現有客戶合作。那麼，您是否有任何圖片證據表明您在現階段使用它是否成功？還是我們現在還處於太早的階段？

Second question is on the media changes and the sort of consolidation there. Clearly, a lot of disruption in the first half. Can you just confirm that, that disruption is being contained? Or is there a further drag into the third and fourth quarter? Are things happening perhaps you weren't planning for in terms of you cut too hard here or there? Just to give us some comfort that where -- when does that Media business stabilize and get back to where you want to be, I guess, in terms of operationally. I'll leave it there.

第二個問題是關於媒體的變化和整合。顯然，上半場出現了很多混亂。您能否確認這種幹擾正在控制？或者第三季和第四季會受到進一步拖累嗎？您是否在某些方面削減了過多的開支，而沒有考慮到一些您沒有預料到的事情的發生？只是為了讓我們感到安慰，我想，就營運而言，媒體業務什麼時候才能穩定下來並回到你想要的狀態。我就把它留在那裡。

Any time you try and turn a business as dramatically as we have, you're going to experience some disruption, and we did see that in the first half. We are substantially through that transformation. And I don't expect any lingering effects in the second half.

任何時候，當你試圖像我們一樣徹底改變一個企業時，你都會經歷一些混亂，我們在上半年確實看到了這一點。我們基本上已經完成了這項轉變。我預計下半年不會有任何持續影響。

We've restructured the company. We put new leadership in place. We are consolidating onto one platform. So I feel very good about going into pitches in the second half of 2025.

我們已經重組了公司。我們任命了新的領導階層。我們正在整合到一個平台上。因此，我對 2025 年下半年的投球感到非常樂觀。

In terms of the Open intelligence rollout, Open Intelligence is our data model. It underlies Open Media Studio, which is our platform. And yes, we have seen success already on some of our long-standing clients in terms of outperforming traditional identity-based approaches to performance.

就開放智能的推出而言，開放智能是我們的資料模型。它是我們的平台 Open Media Studio 的基礎。是的，我們已經看到一些長期客戶在超越傳統的基於身分的績效方法方面取得了成功。

I just add to Brian's point. The US and the UK, the two most important markets in which we need to implement Open Intelligence, they're the most sophisticated data markets and the area where we have, let's say, the biggest gap versus the competition. I think that has to be the priority. And I think that Brian correctly focused on that, and the rollout in the other markets is taking place. But I think that does close the gap in an important way.

我只是補充一下 Brian 的觀點。美國和英國是我們需要實施開放智慧的兩個最重要的市場，它們是最複雜的資料市場，也是我們與競爭對手差距最大的領域。我認為這必須是優先事項。我認為 Brian 正確地關注了這一點，其他市場的推廣也正在進行中。但我認為這確實在很大程度上縮小了差距。

But yes, you ask you a further question here.

但是的，你在這裡問了另一個問題。

Yes. Sorry. Yes, the follow-up really was when we were in Cannes, it kind of felt like you were still really introducing Open Intelligence to clients. I just really wanted more comfort that you're actually out there deploying it, and it was being successfully used in pitches. Anything you can just say on that, please, would be helpful.

是的。對不起。是的，後續確實是當我們在坎城時，感覺你仍然在向客戶介紹開放智慧。我只是真的想要更多的安慰，你實際上在那裡部署它，並且它被成功地用於球場。如果您對此有任何意見，請提出來，這將會很有幫助。

Well, frankly, I wish there were more pitches, but it is being successfully used on pitches. We're towards the tail end of some pitches now. So I expect it to produce great results on pitches. But as you know, we can't necessarily control how many pitches there are in the market. What I can tell you is as we adopt Open Intelligence for our incumbent clients, we are seeing performance gains that are substantial as compared to traditional approaches to identity.

嗯，坦白說，我希望有更多的球場，但它已經在球場上成功使用了。我們現在正處於一些球場的尾聲。因此我期望它能在球場上產生出色的效果。但正如你所知，我們無法控制市場上有多少個球場。我可以告訴你們的是，當我們為現有客戶採用開放智慧時，與傳統的識別方法相比，我們看到了顯著的效能提升。

We currently have no further questions at this time. I would now hand the call over to Mr. Mark Read for further closing remarks.

目前我們沒有其他問題。現在我將把發言權交給馬克·里德先生，請他做進一步的總結發言。

So thank you very much. There's no more questions. I think we'll leave it there. So before I go, I just want to say thank our clients and our people for their ongoing trust and support. And also to thank all of you, the analysts and investor community, with your interest in WPP and engagement I've enjoyed.

非常感謝。沒有其他問題了。我想我們就把它留在那裡。因此，在離開之前，我只想感謝我們的客戶和員工一直以來的信任和支持。也要感謝各位分析師和投資人對 WPP 的關注以及我所享受到的參與。

I think I've enjoyed these calls over the years, and maybe the thing I will miss the most, or not.

我想這些年來我一直很享受這些電話，也許這是我最懷念的事情，或者不是。

So look, it's a continuing challenging environment out there. And I think we're under no illusions about that, as you say, but I think we have made some difficult decisions that some of these decisions we made today. But I am positive about the future. I look forward to seeing what comes next. I think it ends by thanking, in particular, videos to meet that particular and this year for her support and Scott support over the last seven years, to the Board. I wish Cindy all the best in taking over the reins. And thank you all very much, and goodbye.

所以看，外面的環境仍然充滿挑戰。正如您所說，我認為我們對此不抱幻想，但我認為我們做出了一些艱難的決定，其中一些是我們今天做出的決定。但我對未來充滿信心。我期待看到接下來會發生什麼。我認為最後要特別感謝影片以滿足這一特定要求，並感謝今年她的支持以及斯科特在過去七年裡對董事會的支持。我祝福辛迪在接任後一切順利。非常感謝大家，再見。