S4Capital, the pure play digital advertising group started by Martin Sorrell, posted revenue of £1.07 billion, a rise of 24% on a like-for-like basis, for the year to December.
Net revenue was £891.7 million, up 26%. The loss for the 12 months was £159.6 million. Net debt was £110 million, better than guidance of £130-170 million.
Profit performance in the second half improved, with significant cost management, including a brake on hiring.
The content practice posted 24% like-for-like net revenue growth, with Data&Digital Media up 17% and Technology Services up 72%.
The Americas net revenue growth was up 27% and now accounts for 75.6% of the tota. EMEA, accounting for 17.5%, grew at 31% and Asia Pacific, accounting for the remaining 6.9%, grew at 4.8%, reflecting the impact of covid-19 lockdowns in China in 2022.
The company expects to grow faster than the forecast 7%-8% for digital platforms, which drive 90% of its net revenues. S4Capital has set a like-for-like net revenue growth target for 2023 of 8%-12%.
The new business pipeline remains “healthy”.
Sir Martin: "The company continued to outperform the growth of the digital advertising and transformation markets in 2022, crossing £1 billion revenue for the first time and to broaden and deepen relationships with its largest clients, continuing conversion at scale.
“The actions taken by our management and the positive response by our people to the first half challenge of balancing growth in net revenue with growth in costs, have delivered a much improved second half performance.
“This really reflects what the Company is capable of achieving. We have momentum going into 2023 and are cautiously optimistic, despite the slowdown of growth in our major addressable markets.
“We expect to make continued progress, stimulated, in particular, by the early and rapid implementation of revolutionary new technologies such as AI."
The numbers for the year to December 2022:
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