Advertising and media giant WPP reported a 2.1% increase in like-for-like revenue for the first quarter of the year. The company experienced growth in the UK and Western Continental Europe, but saw declines in North America and Asia Pacific. WPP gained new clients such as Astrazeneca, Canon, and Rightmove, but faced challenges due to the loss of assignments at a healthcare client and reduced spending by technology companies. Like-for-like revenue growth in Q1 was -1.6%. Total net new billings in Q1 were $0.8 billion, compared to $1.5 billion in Q1 2023. Despite these challenges, WPP expects to achieve like-for-like revenue growth of zero to one percent for the full year. The company is investing heavily in AI tools to enhance its customer offering and anticipates a return to growth in the second half of the year. WPP Open, the company's intelligent marketing operating system, has deployed multiple AI tools and launched Performance Brain, a tool that predicts the best-performing content. WPP CEO Mark Read remains confident in the company's ability to return to growth, citing an encouraging new business pipeline and the strength of its creative and media divisions, powered by new AI capabilities. [ec317f88]