S4 Capital has cut about 800 jobs over the past year as the advertising and technology group continues its push to improve margins and reduce debt.
The company told shareholders at its AGM its workforce has fallen to about 6,200 employees from roughly 7,000 a year ago. Headcount is also down from about 6,350 at the end of 2025.
The cuts come as S4 battles weak client spending and what Sorrell described as growing geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Technology clients account for almost half of S4's revenue.
Sorrell said many continue to direct spending towards building AI capacity rather than marketing and technology services.
S4 expects 2026 net revenue to be between £632 million and £663 million, a low single-digit decline on the previous year.
The company said trading in the first five months of the year was in line with expectations and expects an improvement in the second quarter.
The group is targeting an improvement of at least 100 basis points in operational EBITDA margin, driven by cost reductions made in 2025.
S4 has also cut debt. Month-end average net debt in the first five months of 2026 fell to £106 million from £144 million a year earlier.
The owner of Monks pointed to growing demand for AI-related work across creative, media, technology and marketing transformation projects.
The company also cited new or expanded relationships with Asana, Samsung, Visa, Square and HelloFresh, alongside existing clients including Amazon, General Motors and T-Mobile.
Sorrell said the business was making progress but still had work to do.
"Effectively, we are half-way through our AI-driven turnaround, with the more significant half to come," he said.
S4 also plans to appoint former GroupM global CEO Christian Juhl as an independent non-executive director.
The company plans to introduce a dividend payout policy of 50% of adjusted earnings per share over the medium term, subject to shareholder approval and financial targets being met.
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