A spring in your step: Sir Martin Sorrell
Sir Martin Sorrell will get a boost this weekend after a move into artificial intelligence by his digital advertising agency S4 Capital sent shares soaring.
The company, founded by the city tycoon in May 2018, said it has capitalized on its “prominent positioning in AI” this year.
S4 won several contracts with clients looking to integrate technology into their businesses for tasks such as copywriting.
But others – particularly technology customers – remained cautious about spending. Group revenue fell 19.7 per cent to £210.2 million in the three months to the end of March.
However, optimism over S4’s AI position sent the shares up 17.9 per cent, or 8.26p, to 54.5p. That added £46m to the value of the business, leaving it worth £313m.
And Sorrell’s stake increased by more than £4m to £29.4m. The FTSE 100 continued its record run as the economy emerged from recession and investors looked forward to interest rate cuts this summer. The blue-chip index surpassed 8,400 for the first time to hit an all-time high of 8,455. It ended the day up 0.6 percent, or 52.41 points, to 8,433.76, a record close.
The FTSE 250 gained 0.6 per cent, or 114.08 points, to 20,645.38.
Building materials giant CRH, which moved its main listing from London to New York in September last year, reported a 2 per cent rise in revenue to £5.2bn in the first quarter of 2024 .The company benefited from strong performance in North America. The shares rose 5.2 per cent, or 336p, to 6,780p.
Dr Martens’ new finance chief Giles Wilson will start two weeks ahead of schedule when he joins the boot maker on Monday. The shares added 1.1 per cent, or 0.85 pence, to 79.25 pence.
Bytes Technology has appointed a chief executive nearly three months after the software and cloud technology group’s previous boss resigned for failing to disclose share transactions.
Sam Mudd, who has been on the board since July last year and also led the company temporarily since February, will take on the role permanently.
Bytes added that it is close to publishing the findings of its investigation into former chief executive Neil Murphy. The shares rose 1.5 per cent, or 7.5p, to 508p. Ultimate Products, which is behind home goods brands such as Salter, went in the opposite direction, warning that its annual results will be worse than expected as demand remained subdued.
Having seen its revenue fall 7 percent in the third quarter to the end of April, it said operations were likely to remain difficult. It expects to report at least £156m of revenue and a profit of between £17.5m and £18.5m for the year to July 31.
This would miss market forecasts of £166.7m revenue and £21.5m profit. The shares fell 15.9 per cent, or 27p, to 143p.
Polarean Imaging jumped 17.4 per cent, or 0.6p, to 4.05p after selling a medical device to the University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital in the US. The sale brings total revenue so far this year to £2 million ($2.5 million) and above the £1.6 million Stifel analysts had forecast for all of 2024.
