S4 Capital loss widens as jump in costs takes shine off soaring sales

(Alliance News) - S4 Capital PLC on Wednesday reported a widened full-year loss despite strong ...

Alliance News 29 March, 2023 | 5:10PM
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(Alliance News) - S4 Capital PLC on Wednesday reported a widened full-year loss despite strong revenue growth as hiring costs impacted profitability in a challenging first half of the year.

The London-based advertising agency said profit performance in the second half was much improved, with significant cost management measures implemented, including a brake on hiring and discretionary cost controls.

For the 12 months to December 31, S4 Capital reported revenue of GBP1.07 billion, up 56% from GBP686.6 million a year prior, as the group continued to outperform both the digital advertising and transformation markets.

Billings jumped 46% to GBP1.89 billion from GBP1.30 billion.

However, pretax loss widened to GBP159.7 million from GBP55.7 million. This included charges of GBP249.4 million relating to share-based compensation, restructuring costs primarily related to headcount and the write down of 4Mile. No dividend was paid.

Geographically, on a like-for-like basis, the Americas net revenue growth was 27% and now accounts for 76% of total revenue. EMEA, accounting for 18% of the total, grew 31%, while Asia Pacific, accounting for the remaining 6.9%, grew 4.8%, chiefly reflecting the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns in China in 2022.

Looking ahead, the firm, founded by Sir Martin Sorrell, said digital platforms, which drive 90% of net revenue, are forecast to grow advertising revenue by around 7% to 8% in 2023. Technology services, which account for about 10% of net revenue, are expected to grow between 8% and 10%.

But S4 is hopeful of beating these forecasts and has set a like-for-like net revenue growth target for 2023 of between 8% and 12%.

Sorrell, Executive Chair of S4Capital said: "We have momentum going into 2023 and are cautiously optimistic."

By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
Rating
S4 Capital PLC 54.50 GBX 17.86 -

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