0646 GMT - France's Publicis and Britain's WPP look set to benefit from expectations of higher advertising spending this year, as AI investments are proving to be a big enough tailwind to offset uncertainty created by the Middle East conflict, Citi says in a note. WPP Media, the media-buying arm of the London-based ad group, raised its forecast for global ad-revenue growth in 2026 to 8.9%, up from 7.1% previously. Higher spending from both AI companies and traditional advertisers is the main factor behind the increase, making the ad-industry backdrop resilient to challenges posed by the war, analysts at Citi say. "This is an incremental positive for both WPP and Publicis," the analysts say. (adria.calatayud@wsj.com)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 17, 2026 02:46 ET (06:46 GMT)

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