WPP has released its trading update for the first quarter of 2025, revealing a decline in revenue against the backdrop of challenging macroeconomic conditions.

The company reported revenue of £3,243 million, representing a 5.0% decrease on a reported basis and a 0.7% decline on a like-for-like basis compared to the same period last year.

Revenue less pass-through costs, a key performance metric for the firm, stood at £2,482 million, down 7.6% on a reported basis and 2.7% on a like-for-like basis.

Despite the soggy start to the year, the advertising giant said that performance was in line with expectations outlined during February’s preliminary results announcement.

The organisation has reiterated its full-year guidance for 2025, projecting like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs to range between flat and -2%, with headline operating profit margin expected to remain approximately flat, excluding foreign exchange impacts.

WPP shares were 0.2% higher at the time of writing.

“In a fiercely competitive advertising arena, WPP is struggling to spark fresh ideas that could kickstart its return to growth,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“With this weakness set to continue into the second quarter, WPP’s leaving itself a lot of work to do late in the year, and there could be room for disappointment as the year progresses.

“Add to that the fallout from recent US-led tariffs, which have sparked major uncertainty across global markets. If they cause an economic slowdown, and WPP’s customers need to rein in their costs, advertising budgets will likely be one of the first things on the chopping block. WPP hasn’t seen client behaviours change yet in response to tariffs, but the picture can change quickly.”

The FTSE 100 traded sideways within a relatively tight range on Thursday as investors enjoyed a break from the onslaught of volatility and uncertainty emanating from the White House.

London’s leading index was down just 7 points at the time of writing and had traded within a range barely more than 30 points for most of the session. This could, of course, change very quickly.

“UK and European markets are taking a breather this morning, with the FTSE 100 flat at the open after a strong showing yesterday. The investing world is back to hanging onto every word out of the White House, but with such a confusing and often contradictory stance on tariffs, volatility is all we can really guarantee,” said

“US markets caught a tailwind yesterday, with the S&P 500 climbing 1.67% as investors found reasons to cheer across the board – from upbeat corporate earnings and resilient economic data to signs of a cooling tone in Trump’s domestic and foreign rhetoric.”

How long the calming conditions in market persist remains to be seen, but the welcome break from Trump-induced volatility did allow investors to take a more stock-specific approach to FTSE 100 stocks on Thursday.

Unilever produced the standout corporate update with its Q1 trading statement, which confirmed that investors shouldn’t expect fireworks from the consumer giant anytime soon.

Underlying sales growth came in at 3% helped by strong performance in the Personal Care unit, and the company said it was paying attention to performance in emerging markets.

“For years, Unilever has followed the theory that slow and steady wins the race and it has once again delivered another pedestrian performance. First-quarter underlying sales growth was better than expected, giving some support to its share price, but it hardly shot the lights out,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“The recent change in leadership for the group suggested the board and/or shareholders felt that Unilever could move faster, and chairman Ian Meakins said at the time there was more to do. It’s interesting to see new boss Fernando Fernandez now say that Unilever is ‘moving at pace’ given the Q1 numbers do not support that statement.

“Patience is required and at least the current performance shows the business is moving forwards rather than backwards.”

St James’s Place clawed its way to the top of the leaderboard as investors reacted to positive inflow data and an increase in funds under management to $188bn.

BP and Shell were higher amid rising oil prices, but failed to push the index to meaningful gains.

Endeavour Mining was back among the gainers, rising 2%, as gold resumed its march higher. Legal & General was the FTSE 100 top fallers as it traded ex-dividend.

MicroSalt has started 2025 on a strong footing. A business update released on Thursday revealed a material uptick in the volume of low-sodium salt delivered to one of the world’s largest snack food companies. The company also signalled it was gearing up for a further increase in demand as the year progressed. 

MicroSalt manufactures and supplies low-sodium salt, which has 50% less sodium than traditional table salt. Increasingly, food producers are taking the overconsumption of sodium and its associated cardiovascular diseases seriously, as evident in MicroSalt’s update.

MicroSalt has shattered previous performance metrics with total bulk sales reaching an impressive 98 metric tonnes (216,190 lbs) in Q1. The company said low-sodium salt bulk revenue generated in the first quarter alone equates to 142% of the revenue generated in the whole of 2024.

“We are very excited about the growth of our MicroSalt products and its ever-widening acceptance within the food manufacturing community,” said Rick Guiney, CEO of MicroSalt.

“Our growth story is now evidenced by growing sales volume, number of topical applications, and countries served. Continued regulatory support for lower sodium food products acts as a catalyst to our growth both in the US and across the globe in short and long term.”

The company’s expansion spans existing markets in Canada, Mexico and the United States, whilst simultaneously breaking ground in newly opened markets across Great Britain and Belgium.

The driving force behind MicroSalt’s Q1 bulk sales has been various divisions of a global powerhouse—identified as ‘Customer 3’—one of the world’s largest food, soft drink and snack manufacturers. MicroSalt has yet to name any of its biggest partners, presumably because their customers want to keep secret how they will achieve low sodium in their foods.

MicroSalt’s Premium product line

January saw the launch of MicroSalt’s Premium product line, specifically targeting the quick service and fast service restaurant (QSR/FSR) market, with particular emphasis on French fries.

MicroSalt has the response ‘has been very well received and is already in final consideration for rollout with a top international brand Q3 of this year’.

The company said the development demonstrates the expanding versatility of MicroSalt, which is no longer limited to topical applications and is now penetrating diverse markets, including cheese, peanut butter, chicken breading, and coatings.

The strong start to 2025 resulted in MicroSalt guiding for revenue generation of at least $2.5m for 2025. However, this guidance came with the suggestion that revenue could be significantly higher than the $2.5m level.

MicroSalt’s revenue guidance doesn’t include any sales from MicroSalt’s Premium product line, which is expected to be rolled out with a major player in the second half of 2025. MicroSalt also believes revenue generation is likely to accelerate through 2026.

It’s too early to make any firm assumptions to inform forward earnings multiples, but a very rough trajectory of revenue growth going into next year could put MicroSalt’s current market cap at around 4x to 8x 2026 sales. We are yet to gain a clear insight into the margins MicroSalt can achieve when operating at scale.

The next significant catalyst for the stock could be the unveiling of its partners and the products in which MicroSalt is being used later this year.

Adsure Services has announced a promising update on business activities, highlighting the business assurance and internal audit provider’s expansion into the private sector. 

Although the company will remain focused on the public sector, the move into the private sector represents a significant opportunity for growth and delivers on its strategy to enter new markets with existing services. 

Adsure Services traditionally provided business assurance services across four core public industry groups: housing, health, local government, and education.

Today’s announcement is particularly eye-catching because it demonstrates the versatility of Adsure’s services through a series of contract wins with a private sector rail joint venture.

The company didn’t share the size of the contracts, but it did note that no single client or contract accounted for more than 5% of its overall revenue.

Adsure generated £5.06m revenue in the half year to 30th September, an increase of 19% on the same period a year prior.

In addition to announcing its entry into the private sector, Adsure outlined the favourable trading conditions for its core public sector business.

“I’m delighted that Adsure’s principal trading subsidiary, TIAA continues to offer an attractive alternative to mid-tier accountancy practices to the UK public sector,” said Kevin Limn, CEO of Adsure Services.

“Public services are in a state of flux with significant reconfiguration of local government planned, the announcement of the abolition of NHS England and the Further Education sector facing significant financial challenges. Unlike generalist accountancy firms, which often blend audit, tax, and advisory services, TIAA is exclusively focused on business assurance, reducing conflicts of interest and providing our clients with a specialist service delivered by our deeply experienced team.”

Due to the ‘favourable trading environment underpinned by the ongoing reconfiguration of UK public services’, Adsure said it sees continued growth in demand for outsourced business assurance and internal audit services from government-funded organisations. This dynamic will provide a significant tailwind for the business over the coming years.

Adsure also provided insight into the efficiency of their own business, highlighting an 83% increase in the number of staff at their operating subsidiary, which helped them meet their utilisation target.

The improvement enabled Adsure to increase service delivery without incurring additional costs. The impact of this should be reflected in the company’s next set of results in the form of higher margins. 

The FTSE 100 jumped on Wednesday on hopes that the trade war triggered by Donald Trump’s trade tariffs had a chance of reconciliation after Trump signalled he was willing to negotiate with China.

• FTSE 100 gained more than 1.5% in early trade
• Trump signals willingness to negotiate with China
• FTSE 100 miners and China-exposed banks lead rally

The softening in Trump’s approach to China sparked a rally in US stocks overnight that followed through into the European session on Wednesday.

London’s leading index was 1.5% higher at the time of writing, while the German DAX surged more than 2.5%.

“Hopes for a reprieve in the trade war are leading to a small swell of investor confidence, with European markets set to ride a wave of gains in early trade,” explained Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“While there’s been no concrete decisions to hang the hat of optimism on, Trump has indicated that he is in a mood for negotiation, saying that eventual tariffs on China won’t be as onerous as 145% threatened. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he’s also expecting a de-escalation in the trade war with China. While there had already been expectations of a recalibration, these comments have helped wash away some more pessimistic vibes.”

Markets were also buoyed by Donald Trump stepping back from his attack on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and comments that the US President would not try to oust him. Trump’s threat against the Fed chair sent US stocks into free fall on Monday.

“Worries about Trump wanting to meddle in monetary policy, following his comments about Fed chair Jerome Powell at the weekend appear to be ebbing away, after the President said he had no indication of removing him from office,” Streeter said.

FTSE 100 gainers

The FTSE 100’s China-exposed stocks led the index higher on hopes of reconciliation between the US and China. Natural Resource stocks were among the top risers, with BP adding 4.6% and Glencore rising 4.3%. Glencore was one of the heaviest hit following Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariff announcement.

Copper miner Antofagasta jumped over 5%.

HSBC and Standard Chartered – two banks with substantial operations in China – rose 4% and 5% respectively.

Croda was the FTSE 100’s top riser after revealing an uptick in Q1 revenues and maintaining its profit outlook despite uncertainties around tariffs.

“After a robust start to the year, the outlook remains unchanged, which is likely to come as a relief to shareholders who have seen the stock price fall 19% so far this year,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.

Silver-miner Fresnillo sank to the bottom of the FTSE 100 leaderboard, halting a meteoric rally driven by rising precious metals prices amid tariff uncertainty.

“Fresnillo shares slipped this morning following an underwhelming production update from the world’s largest silver miner. Despite the fervour currently gripping the precious metals market, silver output fell nearly 10%, though this was partially offset by a rise in gold production,” explained Mark Crouch, market analyst at eToro.

Fresnillo is still the FTSE 100’s best-performing stock of 2025 with a gain of 55%.