Stagwell revenue rises 6% in Q1

Stagwell reported $564 million in Q1 2025 net revenue, a 6% organic net revenue increase compared to the year earlier. 

The holding company posted a net loss of $5.3 million in Q1 2025, down from a net loss of $713,000 in Q1 2024. The US reported net revenue growth of 1.4% for the quarter. The UK saw a 2.3% net revenue decline in Q1. All other geographies were up 43.6% in the quarter. Stagwell had acquired ADK Global earlier this year, marking its first acquisition in the APAC region.

Despite companies' concerns around tariffs, which have caused many conglomerates to adjust their forecasts for FY 2025, Stagwell CEO and chairman Mark Penn said Stagwell’s Q1 results were “in-line with expectations.”

“Q1 is a low point in the political cycle and yet we delivered solid growth in the quarter, led by double-digit increases in our Digital Transformation, Creativity and Stagwell Marketing Cloud capabilities,” Penn said in a statement. “We hit a record $130 million of net new business and, consequently, we remain optimistic about our outlook for the rest of the year.” 

Stagwell secured new customer wins with companies including Starbucks, Visa, PayPal, Panera, CarMax, Celsius and Hyatt in Q1, according to the report. 

Each of the holding company’s business segments posted organic net revenue growth in Q1, with the exception of its Performance Media & Data division, which dropped 9.8%. Creativity & Communications grew 7.3%, Consumer Insights & Strategy rose 7.6%, Digital Transformation increased by 7.9% and Stagwell Marketing Cloud Group was up 32%.

The holding company owns and operates PR and public affairs agencies including Allison, Hunter, SKDK and Sloane & Company. Stagwell unified PR firms Hunter and KWT Global under the Hunter brand in January. Stagwell’s PR firms are spread among its divisions.

Following its Q4 results in February, Stagwell is maintaining its predicted net revenue growth of 8% this year.

A number of prominent leadership changes took place at Stagwell’s PR firms last year. In December, Allison Worldwide named Ray Day as executive chairman, taking over from Scott Allison and vice chair Andy Hardie-Brown, the agency’s cofounders, who moved into an adviser capacity. Last January, Jonathan Heit succeeded Allison as global CEO.

In February, Sloane & Company named Darren Brandt as the agency’s sole CEO; he previously shared the role with Whit Clay.

In 2024, Allison reported a revenue increase of 3% to $92 million globally and a 3% decrease to $69 million in the U.S., according to PRWeek’s Agency Business Report 2025. Meanwhile, Hunter reported revenue growth of 17% to $67 million globally, up 19% in the U.S.; and SKDK posted 26% growth to $111 million.

Sloane & Company did not submit its revenue numbers to PRWeek’s annual report.