Martin Sorrell's S4 doubles down on data analysis capability

Chris Pash
By Chris Pash | 13 January 2022
 
Sir Martin Sorrell.

Pure-play digital advertising group S4 Capital has expanded its data and digital media practice with the addition of 4 Mile Analytics,  a leader in data analytics, data engineering, data governance, software engineering, UX design and project and product management.

At the same time, S4 founder Martin Sorrell's S4 released a trading update saying the business is tracking to market expectations, delivering strong like-for-like revenue and gross profit/net revenue growth ahead of the previous guidance.

Commercial details of the acquisition, or merger as S4 calls it, haven't been released.

Sir Martin: “Understanding and acting on data is at the heart of the S 4 Capital Content, Digital Media and Technology services offering.

"Therefore, we are delighted to welcome Nick, Sam and their colleagues at 4 Mile Analytics, as we expand our capabilities and partnerships, in particular with Google and their Looker and Google Cloud platforms.”

Nick Fogler, 4 Mile Analytics CEO and founder: “We couldn’t be more excited to join forces with Media.Monks and S 4 Capital. We see huge opportunities to bring the offerings of the wider group to our clients and provide even more opportunities for our team.”

Tyler Pietz, Global Executive Vice President, Data, Media.Monks: “We’ve seen incredibly strong demand for data analytics and engineering expertise from our clients. Nick and his team at 4 Mile Analytics will bring additional expertise, scale and clients to one of our fastest expanding service areas.”

Trading update
S 4 Capital says trading for the first 11 months and forecasts for December continue in line with market expectations.

Gross profit/net revenue growth is well ahead of the previous latest company guidance of 40%.

Operational margins improved significantly in the second half, as flagged in the half year report in September and the third quarter statement in November.

Even after allowing for the cash consideration paid in respect of mergers recently completed, including 4 Mile Analytics, the Company has monthly net debt ranging between £10 million and £30 million, reflecting strong operational  cash flow.

Sir Martin: “We are excited about the growth opportunity ahead of us in 2022 and beyond, all incorporated into our fourth three year plan for 2022-24.

"Our budgets are set at 25% like-for-like gross profit/net revenue growth in line with that three year plan, which seeks to double the size of the company organically and targets an improvement in the operational EBITDA margin back towards previous levels.@ 

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