Dentsu Group reported first half net revenue of 583068 million Japanese yen (approximately $3.7 billion), up 3.7%, with net organic growth of 0.3%.   

The company reiterated its full-year forecast of organic growth in the 0 to 1% range.  

Underlying operating profit grew 6.6% and operating margin expanded by 0.3%  

The firm's home market of Japan continued as the strongest with organic growth of 5%, driven by digital and TV advertising, digital and business transformation units and sports and entertainment operations.  

The Americas division was down 5% for the first half and down 6.9% in Q2 with media roughly flat and creative operations down double digits due mainly to prior year losses. The company said that its CXM unit is "on track" for full year growth this year.  

EMEA and APAC were also down in Q2 and H1.  

The firm released an update of its midterm turnaround plan, stating a goal of having "no markets operating at a loss" by the end of 2027.   

Under the plan the firm has achieved 50 billion JPY ($314 million) in operating cost reductions to date and cut the number of operating entities by half to over 1,000. Plans 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 totaled 900 with 3,000 total jobs eliminated to date per the turnaround plan objectives. There will be 400 more job cuts through 2027. 

Meanwhile the firm has invested roughly $77 million this year to upgrade operations including improvements in media, AI, data and tech services.  

Under the turnaround plan the company is also evaluating costs for restructuring or exiting unprofitable markets.  

Dentsu acknowledged that its new business pipeline in the Americas is "not robust," and that it intends to boost investment there in its cross-practice proposition (media, creative, CXM). 

"Dentsu’s overseas businesses is one of our key management priorities," stated Dentsu Global CEO Takeshi Sano. "At the same time, our Japan business will maintain and strengthen its growth momentum, while expanding its strengths more broadly across the global organization." 

"Client-centricity is our new mantra," Sano said. "In particular, we will further advance two key strengths. First is agility—anticipating client needs and leading with speed and flexibility. Second is deep and advanced collaboration across capabilities—bringing together and orchestrating Dentsu’s diverse expertise to ensure true integration is a differentiating multiplier, and delivering fully integrated solutions."