S4 Capital's revenue drops to $498.5 million, debt spikes up in H1 2024

S4 Capital's revenue continued to decline in the first half of the current calendar year by 13.5% to $498.5 million from $590.5 million in 2023.

According to a report by Campaign, the digital advertising and marketing services company's billings grew 0.8% on a like-for-like basis and fell 1.8% on a reported basis to $1.2 billion.

The company said that the operational EBITDA was expected at $39.8 million, down 17.5% reported and down 8.2% like for like.

The headcount was down 11.7% to 7,533 in H1 2024 as against 8.551 in H1 2023. Debt increased from $145 million in H1 2023 to $242.1 million until June 2024.

S4 Capital attributed its performance to continued uncertainty around global macroeconomic conditions, high interest rates, and caution from tech clients.

As per the Campaign report, the Americas (78% of the S4's business) experienced a 14.9% fall in like-for-like net revenue, EMEA (that accounts for 16%) saw revenues down 7.9% and Asia Pacific's business fell 8.6%.

Martin Sorrell, Chairman of the board of directors of S4 Capital told Campaign, " There has been improvement in the Content Practice first half margins, reflecting the actions taken on the cost base both last year and this year. We continue to develop our larger, scaled relationships with leading enterprise clients and maintain our focus on margin improvement through greater efficiency, utilization, billability, and pricing".