FTSE report: Sir Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital falls further after auditor delay

Shares in Sir Martin Sorrell’s digital marketing group S4 Capital continued a downward slide today after nearly £1 billion was wiped off the company’s value late on Wednesday.

Investors were spooked after S4 Capital was forced to pull a preliminary annual results announcement which had been due out this morning.

The company said the last-minute decision was at the instruction of its auditors PwC, with no detail beyond that. S4 would not comment, nor would it give a new date for its results.

In January Sorrell reassured investors that revenue and profit were already well ahead of company guidance.

S4 Capital shares dropped another 15.52p to 294.58p this morning.

Hostelworld’s full year results pushed its shares 2.8p higher at 76p. The online travel agent, which specialises in hostel accommodation, said there had been a notable decline in cancellations. Despite the emergence of the Covid-19 Omicron variant in latter part of 2021 its net revenue for the period rose 10% to £14.31m (€16.9m)

Bookings also increased 30%, recovering compared to 2019, during the year ending 31 December 2021.

Ticket booking intermediary Trainline was in favour. Its price rose 43p to 241p after agreeing to reduce the commission it receives for selling train tickets from 5% to 4.5%. The company’s agreement with the Rail Delivery Group takes effect from 1 April 2025.

Food giant Tate & Lyle was also up, 20p to 739.4p, on the announcement of its £180.5m ($237m) takeover of Chinese dietary fibre firm Quantum Hi-Tech Biological from ChemPartner Pharmatech. The deal should be complete by mid 2022 but is subject to approval by ChemPartner’s shareholders.

After enduring what analysts have called “the scariest quarter ever”, the FTSE was on course to end March slightly muted down 2.71 points at 7,576.58.