How to make it: be ready to replace your CEO Opinion If there’s one inevitable in business aside from death and taxes it’s that the CEO will always leave, so succession planning is essential. But why hire an expensive headhunter when the right person could already be in your boardroom? Asks Richard Harpin As the new football season nears kick-off, I’ve been pondering that famous old [...]
S4 Capital: Revenue down and debt up at Sir Martin Sorrell’s ad giant Media Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital’s post-pandemic struggles have carried through into its latest results, which revealed a sharp decline in revenue and ballooning debt. The London-listed media holding group, which ad guru Sorrell founded after a sudden exit from WPP in 2018, saw its net revenue reduce by 15.6 per cent from £445.5m to £375.1m [...]
S4 Capital: Sir Martin Sorrell’s marketing giant slashes earnings forecast again Media Digital marketing giant S4 Capital has lowered its core earnings margin forecast again after revenue fell over 18 per cent.
Share price plummets: Sorrell’s S4 Capital downgrades outlook as tech slowdown bruises ads market September 18, 2023 Shares in Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital plunged as much as 27 per cent at market open after it reported a mix bag of updates for the first half of 2023, with a strong technology division failing to make up for a slow ads market elsewhere in the business. The firm reported an operating loss [...]
S4 Capital shares plummett almost 20 per cent after Sir Martin Sorrell’s firm hit by tech slowdown July 24, 2023 Sir Martin Sorrell’s digital marketing giant S4 Capital provided a disappointing update for the second quarter, as its shares plummeted off the back of a tech slowdown. The company said its net revenue was below budget in the last few months due to the economic climate, with the technology sector hit particularly hard. Following the [...]
Supertool: S4’s Sorrell says AI ‘more effective than a 25-year-old media buyer’ May 11, 2023 S4’s chairman Sir Martin Sorrell is optimistic about the future of AI as his advertising agency embraces it to supercharge their productivity and reach. Sorrell said S4 had already seen an increase in viewing metrics because AI was helping employees speed up ad copywriting and aggregate data that makes it easier to hyper-personalise and target [...]
Sir Martin Sorrell: S4 Capital boss made ‘excellent recovery’ after tumour April 17, 2023 Sir Martin Sorrell has revealed that he had keyhole surgery to remove a tumour in February and is underdoing further “preventative treatment”. The 78-year-old advertising mogul, who is currently executive chair at S4 Capital, said he has made an “excellent recovery” following the tumour operation. Sir Martin added in a statement that he is having [...]
Sir Martin Sorrell’s venture fund backs US digital asset management firm November 21, 2022 A venture capital fund backed by Sir Martin Sorrell revealed its first public investment in a US digital asset management platform this morning. In a statement, S4S Ventures announced that it had co-led a $10m Series B investment round alongside Bertelsmann’s BDMI for Tenovos, a New York based software-as-a-service provider. Tenovos helps clients streamline and [...]
S4 Capital revenues jump despite tech slowdown November 14, 2022 Investors in S4 Capital saw a much-needed boost in share price today after the London-listed firm appeared to dodge the wider tech turmoil. The brainchild of WPP founder Sir Martin Sorrell revealed that like-for-like gross profit climbed over 29 per cent to £249.9m in the third quarter, with “whopper” client projects bolstering the company’s results. [...]
Investors back Sorrell’s aggressive growth for S4 Capital despite heavy losses September 21, 2022 Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital felt the bite of its own aggressive hiring strategy this morning, with losses more quadrupling in the first half of the year to £75.4m. The loss included £100m of primarily combination payments, some linked to “continued employment”, and the associated expense and amortisation totalling £93.9m versus £41.6m in the first [...]