Sorrell axes bonuses for S4 Capital bosses

SIR MARTIN SORRELL has cancelled more than £600,000 worth of executive bonuses in the wake of an embarrassing delay to his company’s accounts.

S4 Capital, Sir Martin’s advertising venture, has opted to scrap rewards owed to directors after it missed an earnings margin target and twicedelayed the release of its annual results.

It means bonuses worth £601,400 based on hitting a gross profit will no longer be paid to seven members of the board, including Sir Martin, Media Monks co-founders Victor Knaap and Wesley ter Haar and former S4 finance boss Peter Rademaker.

In its annual report, S4 added: “The committee believes that the bonus achieved was a fair reflection of overall group performance over 2021.

“However, both the committee and the executive directors were disappointed that the Ebitda margin target was not achieved and, also acknowledging the delay in publication of the results, have agreed for 2021 that no bonus should be paid.”

It is the latest blow to the rapidly expanding digital advertising firm, which was blocked from publishing its accounts in March after auditors at PWC

failed to complete their work on time. Sir Martin has branded the debacle as “unacceptable and embarrassing” and promised to rebuild trust after the company lost nearly £1bn of its value.

Sir Martin said earlier this month audit problems were symptomatic of S4’s fast growth rate, which had made the company more complex.

Sir Martin Sorrell scrapped rewards of £600,000 after his advertising company was forced to delay its accounts