REG - S4 Capital PLC - AGM Statement

S4 CapitalAnnouncement

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RNS Number : 9121G  S4 Capital PLC  04 June 2026

4 June 2026

S(4)Capital plc

AGM Statement

("S(4)Capital", "the Company" or "the Group")

 

Full year like-for-like(1) net revenue(2) expected to be within the current
consensus analyst range of £632 - 663 million, down low single digits
year-on-year, with targeted sequential improvement in second quarter over
first quarter

 

Like-for-like operational EBITDA(1,3) margin targeted to increase by at least
100bps(5)

Proportion of operational EBITDA in H1 2026 expected to increase compared to
H1 2025 due to annualised impact of 2025 cost actions

 

Liquidity continues to improve significantly with month-end average net
debt(4) in the first five months of the year down £38 million (£52 million
in constant currency) from £144 million (£158 million constant currency) to
£106 million and with 2026 net debt target unchanged at £60-90 million

 

The Board plans to recommend and pay total dividends of 2.2p per share for
2026 and implement a 50% dividend payout policy out of adjusted basic earnings
per share over the medium-term, subject to financial targets being met and
shareowner approval of final dividends

 

Christian Juhl to be appointed Non-Executive Director

 

 

S(4)Capital plc (SFOR.L), the tech-led, new age, new era digital advertising,
marketing and technology services company, announces that at the Annual
General Meeting of the Company to be held at 12:00 pm today, Sir Martin
Sorrell, Executive Chairman of the Company, will make the following statement:

 

"Throughout 2025, our trading reflected the continuing impact of increasingly
volatile global macroeconomic conditions, heightened by tariff negotiations
and increasing geopolitical risks. Clients remained cautious amid this
uncertainty, with technology clients representing almost half our revenue
continuing to prioritise capital expenditure on expanding AI capacity over
operating expenditure. Technology Services was affected in the first half by a
reduction in one of our larger relationships and longer sales cycles, although
this impact was reduced as the year progressed.

 

Despite the challenging backdrop and usual seasonal weighting to the second
half, liquidity and cashflow improved significantly year-on-year, driven by
disciplined cost control and strong working capital management, resulting in a
substantial reduction in net debt over the course of the year. Performance
strengthened in the second half, supported by the phasing of new business wins
and expanding relationships with major enterprise clients.

 

We secured a number of new and expanded relationships during the year,
including Asana, Amplifon, Samsung, Square, NCS, Opella, Visa, Cinemark and
HelloFresh, alongside continued expansion with major clients such as General
Motors, Amazon and T-Mobile. We also continued to see encouraging adoption of
AI-related capabilities across creative, media, technology and marketing
transformation assignments, including implementation of AI across elements of
clients' marketing supply chains.

 

Market conditions in the first five months of 2026 have remained challenging,
if more so, with clients generally cautious given continued geopolitical and
macroeconomic uncertainty. However, trading has been in line with our
expectations. We continue to see growing opportunities as clients increasingly
focus on implementing technologies such as AI to drive efficiency and
effectiveness.

 

We expect clients to remain cautious in the near term amid increased
macroeconomic uncertainty, including shifting tariff dynamics and the ongoing
conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. We continue to have confidence in
our strategy, business model and talent base. Supported by our scaled client
relationships and strong momentum across our new go-to-market propositions, we
believe we are well positioned to achieve sustainable long-term growth.

 

For 2026, we expect like-for-like net revenue to be within the current
consensus analyst range of £632-663 million, down low single digits compared
to 2025 levels. Operational EBITDA margin is targeted to improve by at least
100 basis points, mainly reflecting the annualised benefit of the 2025 cost
actions. We continue to expect 2026 year-end net debt to be between £60
million and £90 million. We target medium-term leverage of under 1.0x
pro-forma 12-month operational EBITDA and expect to be close to net debt free
next year, which will provide even more significant capital allocation
opportunities.

 

While the macroeconomic environment remains uncertain, we see growing
opportunities as clients become more selective about growth geographically and
increasingly focused on implementing technologies such as AI, Blockchain and
Quantum to drive efficiency.

 

Since our last AGM in June of 2025, our Company has reduced the number of
Monks in the Company to around 6,200, down 11% compared to circa 7,000 at this
time last year and 2% lower than our year end figure of about 6,350,
reflecting the continued focus on utilisation and billability. We maintain a
disciplined approach to managing our cost base and continue our drive for
margin improvement through greater efficiency, utilisation, billability and
pricing.

 

The Company's capital allocation policy remains dividends first, debt
repurchase second and share buybacks third. As previously announced, the
Company has continued to repurchase its Term Loan B at a discount, with
€85.2 million repurchased to date. This reduces the Term Loan B outstanding
to €289.9 million, with a targeted reduction to €250 million. The Board
plans to implement a 50% dividend payout policy out of adjusted basic earnings
per share over the medium-term and the first step will be the payment of a
1.1p dividend both for the interim and final dividends for 2026, if financial
targets for 2026 are achieved and shareowners approve. Current analysts'
consensus range for 2026 adjusted basic eps is 5.3p - 6.2p. This reflects our
commitment to deliver consistent shareowner returns.

 

We remain committed to the core pillars of our ESG strategy: People
Fulfilment, Our Responsibility to the World and One Brand. We continue to
enhance our external reporting, reporting tools and governance processes to
support greater transparency, strengthen the effectiveness of our reporting
and ensure compliance with evolving global regulatory requirements.

 

The Company intends to appoint Christian Juhl as an independent Non-Executive
Director of S4 Capital plc, subject to the Board's approval at the next Board
meeting. Christian served as Global CEO of GroupM from 2019 to 2024 before
moving into the role of President, Corporate Development at WPP. He previously
served as CEO of Essence and a longtime Razorfish leader. He is known for
driving digital transformation, data-led media and AI innovation across WPP's
global media business.

 

In summary, we are focused on three areas. First, top line growth, where we
are making some progress, but not sufficient. Second, on margin improvement,
where we are progressing, but not where we ultimately want to be. Finally,
improving liquidity, where we have made very significant progress.
Effectively, we are half-way through our AI-driven turnaround, with the more
significant half to come."

 

 

As the AGM is a hybrid, shareowners will have received instructions for
electronic access via the Lumi AGM app, including details of voting and
Q&A functions. Details are set out in the Notice of Annual General
Meeting. Guest access to the AGM without voting or a Q&A facility will be
available as a webcast at https://brrmedia.news/SFOR_AGM26
(https://brrmedia.news/SFOR_AGM26) .

 

 

Enquiries to:

S4 Capital plc

Tel: +44 (0)20 3793 0003

Sir Martin Sorrell, Executive Chairman

 

 

 

Notes (in this document):

 

1.     Like-for-like is a non-GAAP measure and relates to 2025 being
restated to show the unaudited numbers for the previous year of the existing
and acquired businesses consolidated for the same months as in 2026, applying
currency rates as used in 2026.

2.     Net revenue is revenue less direct costs.

3.     Operational EBITDA is operating profit or loss adjusted for
acquisition related expenses, non-recurring items (primarily acquisition
payments tied to continued employment, amortisation and impairment of business
combination intangible assets and restructuring and other one-off expenses)
and recurring items (share-based payments) and includes right-of-use assets
depreciation. It is a non-GAAP measure management uses to assess the
underlying business performance. Operational EBITDA margin is operational
EBITDA as a percentage of net revenue.

4.     Net debt excludes lease liabilities.

5.     This is a target and not a profit forecast.

 

 

About S(4)Capital

S4 Capital is a purely digital advertising and marketing services business
built for global, multinational, regional, and local clients and
millennial-driven influencer brands. The business operates through two data
and digital media driven Practices: Marketing Services and Technology
Services, emphasising 'faster, better and more efficient' execution in an
always-on consumer-led environment. Its unitary structure positions the
Company as a systems integration partner delivering real-time relevance in the
post-agency era.

The Company now has approximately 6,200 people in 34 countries with
approximately 82% of net revenue across the Americas, 12% across Europe, the
Middle East and Africa and 6% across Asia-Pacific. The longer-term objective
is a geographic split of 60%:20%:20%. Marketing Services accounted for
approximately 91% of net revenue and Technology Services 9%. The target
allocation is a practice split of 75%:25%.

Sir Martin Sorrell was CEO of WPP for 33 years, building it from a £1 million
'shell' company in 1985 into the world's largest advertising and marketing
services company, with a market capitalisation of over £16 billion on the day
he left. Prior to that, Sir Martin was Group Financial Director of Saatchi
& Saatchi Company Plc for nine years.

 

Disclaimer

This announcement includes 'forward-looking statements'. All statements other
than statements of historical facts included in this announcement, including,
without limitation, those regarding the Company's financial position, business
strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations (including
development plans and objectives relating to the Company's services) are
forward-looking statements.

 

Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and
accordingly the Company's actual future financial results and operational
performance may differ materially from the results and performance expressed
in, or implied by, the statements. These factors include but are not limited
to those described in the Company's prospectus dated 8 October 2019 which is
available on the news section of the Company's website. These forward- looking
statements speak only as at the date of this announcement. S(4)Capital
expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any
forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect actual results or any
change in the assumptions, conditions or circumstances on which any such
statements are based unless required to do so.

 

No statement in this announcement is intended to be a profit forecast and no
statement in this announcement should be interpreted to mean that earnings per
share of the Company for the current or future years would necessarily match
or exceed the historical published earnings per share of the Company.

 

Neither the content of the Company's website, nor the content on any website
accessible from hyperlinks on its website for any other website, is
incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement nor, unless previously
published by means of a recognised information service, should any such
content be relied upon in reaching a decision as to whether or not to acquire,
continue to hold, or dispose of, shares in the Company.

 

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