In its first earnings report under new CEO Takeshi Sano, who took office in February, Dentsu reported net revenue in the first quarter of approximately $1.86 billion, up 2.7%, with organic growth (which excludes currency and M&A impact) of 0.8%.  

The Q1 organic growth was an improvement of 0.6% versus the Q1 of 2025.  

Across regions organic growth was: Japan, 4.7%; Americas, -3%; EMEA, 0.8% and Asia Pacific, 7.5%. Japan accounted for 44% of the overall business in Q1, followed by Americas (26%), EMEA (22%) and APAC (8%). APAC figures exclude Japan.  

Japan’s growth exceeded expectations and remained positive for the twelfth consecutive quarter while results in the company’s other regions were in line with expectations. 

In the Americas, the company said media operations remained stable, and CXM continued its sequential improvement over the past year while creative declined due to client losses in the prior year. 

The company’s performance guidance for full year 2026 is unchanged with forecasted organic growth of between flat and 1%. The regional growth forecasts are: Japan, 2-3%; Americas, -2%; EMEA and APAC both 1%.  

“We remain focused on putting client centricity, agility, and collaboration at the forefront of our approach while simplifying our overall structure and offer,” Sano stated in the firm’s earnings release. 

Since Sano, a 34-year veteran of the company, took over as CEO in February, several changes have been made in the firm’s regional leadership organization. The EMEA region has been divided into clusters with the heads of those units reporting directly to Sano.  

Beth Kaminkow was elevated to CEO, Americas & chief global client officer, also reporting directly to Sano.