Dentsu Group is making incremental progress on its recovery, but the road back remains long and uneven.

The Japanese advertising and communication holding company reported first-half net revenue of approximately 583,068 million Japanese yen; approximately $3.7 billion, representing organic growth of just 0.3 per cent. Underlying operating profit grew 6.6 per cent and operating margin expanded by 0.3 per cent. The company has reiterated its full-year forecast of organic growth in the zero to one per cent range.

Japan remained Dentsu’s strongest market, posting organic growth of 5 per cent in the first half, driven by digital and television advertising, digital and business transformation units, and sports and entertainment operations. However, performance outside Japan told a significantly weaker story.

The Americas division declined 5 per cent for the first half and 6.9 per cent in the second quarter, with media operations roughly flat and creative operations down double digits; a result the company attributed mainly to prior year losses. EMEA and APAC were also down in both Q2 and the first half overall.

Furthermore, Dentsu acknowledged that its new business pipeline in the America is “not robust” and stated its intention to boost investment there across its cross-practice proposition covering media, creative, and customer experience management.

Dentsu released an update of its midterm turnaround plan, setting a goal of having no markets operating at a loss by the end of 2027. The company has achieved 50 billion Japanese yen; approximately $314 million, in operating cost reductions to data, and has cut the number of operating entities by half to over 1,000. Additionally, plans to call for the elimination of another 70 to 80 entities this year and 50 to 80 more by 2028.

Staff cuts in the first half totalled 900, bringing total job eliminations to 3,000 under the turnaround plan. A further 400 job cuts are planned through 2027. Meanwhile, Dentsu has invested approximately $77 million this year to upgrade operations across media, AI, data, and technology services.

Dentsu Global CEO Takeshi Sano described client-centricity as the company’s new guiding principle. “In particular, we will further advance two key strengths; agility, anticipating client needs and leading with speed and flexibility, and deep and advanced collaboration across capabilities,” he said.

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