Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital ‘set to double in size’ after contract wins

Sir Martin Sorrell’s new marketing firm S4 Capital said it was on track to double in size by 2021 after securing a raft of new contracts.

The advertising mogul, who set the company up last year, said the firm was committed to rapidly growing revenues, as it reported increased billings in the first half of the year.

Sir Martin established the firm just a month after he was forced out of advertising group WPP, which he founded, following misconduct allegations. He denies any wrongdoing.

The company reported that billing in the six months to June 30 had increased by 44.4% to £184.2 million.

S4 said it made a pre-tax loss of £8.5 million during the period, although this was a £6.5 million profit after adjustment for exceptional costs.

The company has grown substantially over the last year on the back of a number of acquisitions.

In April it purchased Amsterdam video production business Caramel Pictures and Brazil’s ProgMedia, before acquiring Dutch influencer firm IMA in August.

The group said it had already won account work from large consumer firms including Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Coca-Cola.

Sir Martin said: “These results confirm the power and relevance of the faster, better, cheaper, digital-only unitary advertising model, with first party data fuelling content and programmatic.

“Now the task is to build significant scale organically, by broadening and deepening existing and new client relationships and adding resources through merger and acquisition.”

S4 has also aggressively expanded through recruitment, increasing its headcount by 60% to 1,375 at the end of the half-year.

Analysts at Liberum said: “The company continues to demonstrate very strong growth and has decided to prioritise top-line growth over profits, which is the right strategy given the opportunities.”