Profit before tax plunged 75% at advertising and marketing giant M&C Saatchi – which currently doesn’t have a CEO – in 2025.
The group reported PBT of £4.6 million for the calendar year, down from £18.1m in 2024.
Total net revenue was £210m, down 9.2%, with an operating profit of £10.2m (2024: £22.5m), driven by the closure of its Australian media buying business in September 2025 and one-off items including restructuring costs.
Zaid Al-Qassab, a former CMO at Channel 4, left ‘by mutual consent’ at the start of the month. He joined in 2024 to help stabilise the business and it has introduced cost savings.
Dame Heather Rabbatts (pictured) moved from non-executive chair to executive chair on an interim basis while it seeks a successor. Tech powerhouse Vin Murria OBE, a substantial and long-term investor in the business both privately and through her company AdvancedAdvT, was appointed deputy chair. She has seen takeover approaches rebuffed in the past.
“The group operated in a very challenging market in 2025 with weak consumer sentiment, particularly in Australia,” the firm stated this morning. “This, combined with US trade policy changes, caused many clients to delay or reduce their marketing spend, with some project-based work postponed entirely.
“The group suffered from the US Government shutdown in the fourth quarter, which impacted the high-margin Issues Specialism; government revenues were lost while staffing had to be maintained due to uncertainty of the timing on the restart of funding and work.”
The group made its first two strategic acquisitions in seven years in the period, with Dune 23 and The Women’s Sports Group.
It said this morning that it would increase its share buyback programme rather than pay a dividend to shareholders.
“It is my privilege to lead this world-famous company,” said Rabbatts. “Our 2025 financial performance was impacted by the tough market context and the board is clear on the action that the business needs to take; our focus will be to simplify the businesses, to refine our go-to-market offer and to unlock the intrinsic value of the company.
“Whilst we expect continued market uncertainty, we are confident in targeting net revenue growth and operating profit growth in 2026, in line with current market expectations.
“With a unique market position, a deep understanding of our clients’ business, broad expertise across both government and commercial sectors and specialised data-driven systems, the board believes that the company is well-positioned to create value for shareholders.”
M&C Saatchi’s share price has fallen 15% in the year to date and currently stands at 114p, giving it a market cap of £138.68m.