S4 Capital plc (SFOR) Q4 2025 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

So good morning, everybody. I'm joined by Radhika and Scott and Wes, and this is our S4's 2025 call. So we'll kick off. with a summary of the results from Radhika. Then Scott will talk a little bit about market momentum. Wes will talk about, I guess, the topic du jour, if not forever, which is AI. And then I'll come back and do a brief summary on the results. And then we'll go into Q&A. So Radhika, do you want to kick off, please? Yes. Good morning. I will start with the financial headlines for 2025. Despite global macroeconomic pressures and ongoing client caution, strong cost and working capital management improved the operational EBITDA margin and reduced year-end net debt below the targeted range. Net revenue was £673 million, down 10.8% reported and 8.4% like-for-like. Operational EBITDA was 81.2 million, with a margin of 12.1%, up 70 basis points year-on-year. Adjusted operating profit was 74 million, and adjusted EPS was 5 pence versus 5.2 pence in 2024. Free cash flow rose to 86.5 million, up 48.7 million year-on-year, driven by improved Treasury management and title working capital discipline. Year-end net debt fell to 86.9 million, 1.1 times operational EBITDA, below the 100 to 140 million target range and well below the 142.9 million at the end of 2024. Subject to share owner approval, the board proposes to pay a final dividend of 1.1 pence per share, an increase of 10% compared to the prior year. Moving to the P&L. Revenue for the year came in at 754.8 million, which is down 11% on a reported basis and 8.7% like for like. Net revenue for the year was 673 million, down 10.8% reported, and 8.4% like for like. This reflects what has been a fragmented and volatile macroeconomic environment and the resulting caution we've seen from clients. In response to thes...