S4 Capital Plc · LSE:SFOR
S4 Capital — H1 2025 Earnings Presentation
35 slides from S4 Capital's earnings presentation, Sep 15, 2025
Slide 1: H1 2025 Results
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results H1 2025 Results 15 September 2025
Slide 2: Contents
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 2 Contents 1. Results 2. Market Momentum 3. Client Analysis 4. Artificial Intelligence 5. Summary and Outlook 6. Q&A 7. Appendix
Slide 3: Results
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 3 Results
Slide 4: Financial headlines
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 4 Financial headlines Net revenue1 Operational EBITDA3 Operational EBITDA margin3 H1 H1 £328.2m £20.8m 6.3% -30.9% reported vs. 8.0% prior year reported -12.7% reported -30.4% like-for-like2 vs. 8.2% prior year like-for-like2 -10.0% like-for-like2 Adjusted operating pr
Slide 5: Profit or loss
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 5 Profit or loss ● Net revenue down 10.0% like-for-like and 12.7% reported. This reflects H1 2025 H1 2024 Change Change £m £m Reported Like-for-like continued caution from clients due to challenging global macroeconomic Revenue 360.4 422.5 (14.7%) (11.9%) conditions, t
Slide 6: Net revenue by practice and geography
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 6 Net revenue by practice and geography Net revenue by geography2 ● Marketing Services net revenue down 6.4% like-for like-basis, and 9.4% reported, to £299.0m reflecting the timing of significant new business wins, General Motors, Amazon, T-Mobile and a leading US- ba
Slide 7: Operational EBITDA by Practice
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 7 Operational EBITDA by Practice H1 2025 H1 2024 Change Change £m £m Reported Like-for-like ● Marketing Services’ Operational EBITDA £28.5m, a 9.5% Marketing Services 299.0 330.0 (9.4%) (6.4%) margin down 90 bps like-for-like, despite the significant reduction Technolo
Slide 8: Debt and balance sheet
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 8 Debt and balance sheet ● H1 2005 closing net debt £145.9m, a £37m improvement from H1 2024 reflecting strong H1 2025 Dec 2024 focus on cash management £m £m Intangible assets 652.1 706.4 ● Month-end average net debt improved circa 27%, £52m, from £196m to £144m Right
Slide 9: Cash flow
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 9 Cash flow ● Working capital inflow in H1 2025 £19.2m (H1 2024 inflow £4.2m) H1 2025 H1 2024 £m £m reflecting improved working capital management Operational EBITDA 20.8 30.1 Capital expenditure1 (2.1) (4.1) ● Capital expenditure of £2.1m related primarily to IT equip
Slide 10: Net debt bridge
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 10 Net debt bridge H1 2025 Net debt bridge ● H1 2025 FX on net debt £18.0m, £9.9m on Euro term loan and £8.1m on cash ● Translating opening net debt at closing rate adds £17.5m, taking opening net debt to £160.4m ● Free cash flow of £16.0m in H1 2025 improved closing n
Slide 11: 2025 Guidance
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 11 2025 Guidance Net revenue Operational LFL EBITDA Net Debt Full year LFL net revenue expected Targeted to be broadly similar £100–140m expected to be down mid-single digits. to 20241 Net finance expense Effective tax rate c.£29m 30–32% expected (cash c.£25m) 1. This
Slide 12: Market Momentum
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 12 Market Momentum
Slide 13: Business challenges impacted growth and margins in 2023/4
S4 Proprietary & Confidential 13 S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results Business challenges impacted growth and margins in 2023/4. 1Tech Companies “Whopper 2 Clients” 3Macro economic 4 M&A activity 5 Staff cost prioritise AI Capex under pressure pressure paused ratio Significant increases in High interest rate
Slide 14: We addressed these challenges to rebuild our foundation for growth
S4 Proprietary & Confidential 14 S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results We addressed these challenges to rebuild our foundation for growth Tech 1 Company cost 2 Innovation and 3 New business 4 Talent 5Integration/Cost cutting - investment in AI wins investment focus moderating Tech platforms continued to Mon
Slide 15: Client Analysis
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 15 Client Analysis 3
Slide 16: Our client portfolio
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 16 Our client portfolio H1 2025 Client Categories H1 2024 Client Categories Technology 44% Technology 42% FMCG 10% FMCG 9% Financial 7% Financial 6% Auto 8% Auto 12% Retail 5% Retail 6% Media & Ent 4% Media & Ent 4% Fashion & Lux 8% Fashion & Lux 6% Agency 3% Telco 4%
Slide 17: A compelling portfolio of clients
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 17 A compelling portfolio of clients Average revenue per client (£m) Client Revenue H1 2025 H1 2024 Number of % of Cumulative Number of % of Cumulative clients Revenue % clients Revenue % > £10m 6 42% 42% 6 39% 39% £5–10m 3 7% 49% 5 10% 49% £1–5m 40 21% 70% 45 23% 72%
Slide 18: Artificial Intelligence
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 18 Artificial Intelligence 4
Slide 19: Monks AI Update
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results MONKS AI UPDATE Monks Proprietary & Confidential
Slide 20: We choose growth
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results WE CHOOSE GROWTH US BASED FMCG 2023 2024 2025 2026
Slide 21: AI is eating the agency business
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results AI IS EATING THE AGENCY BUSINESS 65% Agency tasks can be done by agents
Slide 22: The brave slide
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results THE Hybrid AI-First Fully Agentic BRAVE Cost per asset SLIDE Pipeline engineering Volume Agents People led production Consistency Retained: core teams
Slide 23: Where's the money going?
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results WHERE’S THE MONEY GOING? Systems ARR Consulting Outputs Integration Software Transformation Tech Partners Services
Slide 24: Monks is a change agent
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results MONKS IS A CHANGE AGENT
Slide 25: S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results
Slide 26: Our agents
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results OUR AGENTS Monks.Flow accelerates the adoption of AI by marketers
Slide 27: The Ecosystem In a Nutshell
↪ Monks.Flow The Ecosystem Solutions In a Nutshell Flows Agents Tools Monks.Flow transforms marketing by deploying an AI workforce organized across three core Solutions: data-driven Strategy, automated Content, and optimized Media. Data We deliver these solutions through Flows: end-to-end managed off
Slide 28: Flows
↪ Flows Flows are comprehensive offerings that transform entire marketing domains through specialized AI Agents that intelligently orchestrate Tools and unified Data. ADAPTATION.FLOW AGENTS + TOOLS + DATA INSIGHTS.FLOW AUDIENCE.FLOW STRATEGY FLOW CREATIVE.FLOW STUDIO.FLOW ADAPTATION.FLOW QA.FLOW MEDIA
Slide 29: Our expertise
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results OUR EXPERTISE
Slide 30: Summary and Outlook
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 30 Summary and Outlook
Slide 31: Summary & Outlook
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 31 Summary & Outlook ● H1 2025 net revenue down 12.7% reported and 10.0% like-for-like ● Full year 2025 net revenue expected to decline mid-single digits on a like-for-like basis due to macroeconomic uncertainty and continued client caution ● Operational EBITDA of £20.
Slide 32: Q&A
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 32 Q&A 6
Slide 33: Appendix
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 33 Appendix
Slide 34: Additional information
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results 34 Additional information Guidance ● XXX on adjusting items Weighted average share count for 2025 Expected weighted average share count for 2025 of Amortisation c.677m1 c.£45-50m Expected weighted average share count for 2026 of Share based payments c.687m1 Cash contin
Slide 35: Thank you
S4 Capital plc H1 2025 Results Thank you