Sir Martin Sorrell saw a further £11million wiped off his fortune yesterday as shares in his advertising firm crashed after it issued a second profit warning.

S4 Capital shares tumbled 21.7 per cent, or 20.7p, to 74.8p – taking Sorrell’s losses over the past two years to more than £430million.

The latest slump came as the company warned revenue and earnings will be lower than expected this year as firms have slashed their marketing spend amid fears of a recession.

Sorrell owns a stake of more than 9 per cent in S4 Capital, a digital marketing company he set up in 2018 after leaving advertising giant WPP following allegations of personal misconduct.

The British businessman, who took control of WPP in 1985, denies the allegations.

Rollercoaster ride: Sir Martin Sorrell set up digital marketing company S4 Capital after leaving WPP

Yesterday’s share price slide knocked £11million off the value of Sorrell’s stake, valuing it at £41million. 

His shares were worth £472million in September 2021 when the price peaked at 870p, meaning he has lost £431million in the last two years.

The share price drop was sparked by S4 Capital reducing its earnings margins guidance for 2023 to between 12 per cent and 13.5 per cent, down from 14.5 per cent to 15.5 per cent.

The firm said revenue is forecast to be below the previous year as clients spent less on advertising and marketing campaigns.

S4 Capital blamed the slump on ‘slower than expected trading over the summer months’ as potential clients have reduced their advertising budgets due to economic uncertainty.

It is the second time in two months that the firm has downgraded expectations after cutting sales growth and profits guidance in July, blaming the downturn on reduced tech sector client spending. 

The company also revealed yesterday that it had cut at least 450 jobs and is planning on axing more roles in the second half of the year.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘Sir Martin Sorrell’s incredible success at WPP was always going to be a tough act to follow.

‘The five years since he launched rival S4 Capital have been something of a rollercoaster ride.

‘While advertising spend has been proving relatively resilient, the results statement sees some headwinds forming and the market hasn’t taken too kindly.’

He added that net debt, which stood at £109million in the latest results for the six months ending June 30, is ‘starting to become a bit of a concern as financial performance fails to keep up with payouts for previous acquisitions’.

Investors are likely to want to see the core business starting to deliver before stumping up for further consolidation opportunities, Nathan said.

Sorrell said it had been a ‘mixed picture’ across clients and regions, with three factors influencing the market.

‘One, tech clients have been more hesitant on spending,’ he said. ‘Second, packaged goods companies have been increasing prices in line with inflation or above and they fix their ad budgets on net revenues.

‘The third is that regional and local clients have been quite soft, that’s the big difference we’ve seen between last year’s first half and this year’s.’

Fashion retailer Next has joined forces with the Reiss family to acquire a significant stake in the Reiss Group.

The two parties have agreed to spend £128million purchasing a 34 per cent stake in the luxury clothing chain – whose fans include the Duchess of Cambridge – from American private equity giant Warburg Pincus.

Upon the deal’s completion, Next will have increased its stake in Reiss Group from 51 per cent to 72 per cent, while the Reiss family will possess a 22 per cent stake and the remainder held by the Reiss management.

Acquisition: Fashion retailer Next and the Reiss family have agreed to buy a 34 per cent stake in the Reiss Group from American private equity giant Warburg Pincus

Founded in 1971 as a men’s tailoring store in London’s Bishopsgate district, Reiss’s products are now sold in 266 outlets across 18 countries.

In the last financial year, the brand saw sales jump by over a quarter to £324.6million and pre-tax profits climb by more than half to £51.6million.

Sky News reported in June that Next was in talks with Warburg Pincus to auction the business in a potential £500million deal.

However, some suggested that the FTSE 100 retailer was using the process to determine a market price and then acquire Warburg Pincus’s holding.

The investment firm initially bought a majority stake in Reiss seven years ago partly in order to expand the company across Asia, Australia and North America.

Five years later, it offloaded a 25 per cent stake for £33million to Next, which allowed Reiss’s website and online operations to migrate to its Total Platform e-commerce outsourcing service.

Next subsequently exercised an option in April 2022 to buy an additional 26 per cent equity interest at pre-agreed terms.

Lord Simon Wolfson, chief executive of Next, remarked: ‘Reiss has performed exceptionally well since we first invested in March 2021.

‘This success has been driven by the strength of its brand, first-class management and the benefits of Total Platform; we look forward to continuing to develop the business with Christos and the Reiss team.’

The group said the acquisition would not ‘materially impact’ its underlying pre-tax profits or earnings per share in the current year.

In recent years, Wolfson’s company has bought or forged joint ventures with several distressed retailers, including Joules, Cath Kidston and Victoria’s Secret.

Unlike many high street fashion brands, Next has rebounded strongly since the Covid-19 pandemic started, thanks partly to surging online sales and the collapse of smaller rivals.

Last month, the firm upgraded its annual profit forecasts for the second time this year after warm weather led to a robust end-of-summer sale.

Next shares were 0.5 per cent higher at £70.20 on early Friday afternoon, meaning they have grown by around 29 per cent over the past 12 months.

Tom Brady is ready to give football a chance.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion has invested in Birmingham City, a 148-year-old soccer team in England’s second division, the EFL Championship.

Neither the size of Brady’s stake nor the price he paid has been revealed publicly. Regardless, Brady will have a roll with the team, applying ‘his extensive leadership experience’ while advising ‘on health, nutrition, wellness, and recovery,’ according to a club statement.

‘So here’s the deal, I’m officially coming on board at Birmingham City Football Club,’ Brady said in a social media video. ‘And maybe you’re asking what do you know about English football, Tom? Well let’s just say I’ve got a lot to learn. But I do know a few things about winning, and I think they may translate pretty well.’

Brady, who celebrates his 46th birthday on Thursday, already owns a minority stake in the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. He also had plans to buy into the NFL’s Raiders as well, until the league’s new rule blocking equity distribution to employees put that deal in jeopardy. Then last month, he bought a racing boat team with Rafael Nadal and Formula One star Sergio Perez.

NFL icon Tom Brady has become a minority owner of Birmingham City Football Club

The seven-time Super Bowl winner will be Chairman of the Advisory Board at St Andrew’s

Brady’s acquisition comes shortly after American billionaire Tom Wagner became the club’s chairman as part of his ongoing takeover of the club. 

Birmingham City opens its season against Swansea City in Wales on Saturday in the club’s first game as it hopes to return to the Premier League for the first time since the 2010-2011 season. 

And in that sense, Brady’s investment offers upside potential. Whereas London’s Chelsea sold for $5.6 billion last year, Birmingham City went for just $44 million to Wagner’s group. 

Promotion is anything but a given (Birmingham City finished 17th last season) but if the club can ascend to the EPL, Brady will have a much more lucrative asset on his hands. 

‘Tom Brady joining the Birmingham City team is a statement of intent,’ Wagner said in a team statement. ‘We are setting the bar at world class.

‘Tom is both investing and committing his time and extensive expertise. As chair of the advisory board, Tom will have a direct impact on the club. The men’s, women’s, and academy teams are going to benefit from the knowledge.

‘The goal that Tom has committed to own is to make Birmingham City a respected leader in nutrition, health, wellness, and recovery across the world of football.’

The 46-year-old has been building his business empire since retiring from the NFL in 2023

Burnley minority investor JJ Watt responded to his old NFL rival on Twitter following the deal

The former Patriots and Buccaneers quarterback joins a number of other American sports stars to invest in English soccer clubs.

Most famously, LeBron James has a minority stake of Liverpool FC, while PGA Tour golfers Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are in the process of buying shares of Leeds United. 

Former NFL player J.J. Watt recently became a minority investor in Burnley, which has just been promoted to the Premier League.

Naturally, Watt was quick to respond to his former rival’s Birmingham City acquisition. 

‘Well well well, what do we have here,’ Watt tweeted. ‘Happy for you, wishing Birmingham all the best and hope to see you in the PL real soon! Up The Clarets!’

Mike Ashley’s retail empire has once more increased its slice of Boohoo. 

Frasers, the owner of Flannels and Sports Direct, boosted its stake in the fast fashion brand from 6.78 per cent to just over 7.8 per cent yesterday. 

The group previously increased its holding in the online retailer, from 5 per cent to 6.78 per cent, last week. 

Holding: Frasers Group has boosted its stake in Boohoo – which counts Paris Hilton (pictured) as an ambassador – from 6.78% to just over 7.8%

Frasers, which is run by Ashley’s son-in-law Michael Murray, first snapped up a holding in Boohoo in mid June. 

Boohoo was an appealing proposition owing to its ‘laser focus on young female consumers’, Frasers said at the time. 

Ashley, Frasers’ founder and largest shareholder, has garnered a reputation for snapping up distressed High Street businesses. 

And Murray last week said investments in other brands are ‘part of our DNA’. 

Frasers Group has struck a new partnership with AO World following its acquisition of a significant stake in the online electricals seller.

Mike Ashley’s retail empire revealed it had invested £75million buying AO World shares worth 68 pence each last Friday, equivalent to 18.9 per cent of the business.

Michael Murray, Frasers’ chief executive and son-in-law of Ashley, said the deal would enable the firm to boost growth in its bulk equipment and homeware ranges.

Strategic partnership: Frasers Group revealed it had invested £75million buying an 18.9 per cent stake in online electricals seller AO World

Based in Bolton, AO World specialises in selling household products ranging from fridges to washing machines, televisions and thermostats to UK customers.

The investment comes after two years of talks between the companies and is the latest in Frasers’ long history of acquiring stakes in other notable brands.

Ashley’s firm is also known for buying under-the-weather businesses, many of them out of administration, such as House of Fraser, Jack Wills, home shopping firm Studio Retail Group, and tailor Gieves & Hawkes.

John Roberts, founder and chief executive of AO, said: ‘We are delighted to welcome Michael and the wider Frasers team into the AO family and look forward to realising the significant potential that we see for this partnership.

‘As we continue to build on our strategy of pivoting to profitable growth, it will be hugely exciting to have a range of compelling strategic opportunities to explore together, and we’re very much looking forward to working with Michael and his team.’

Just before the AO World deal, the FTSE 100 business upped its stake in Asos to almost 10 per cent, raising speculation that it is planning a full takeover of the struggling retailer.

Buying spree: Frasers Group, founded by Mike Ashley (pictured), has a long history of acquiring stakes in other notable brands

ASOS shares have plummeted by more than 93 per cent in the past two years amid a slowdown in online clothing purchases due to the loosening of Covid-related restrictions and cost-of-living problems.

AO World shares have also slumped heavily since the lockdown era when Britons with extra savings sought to upgrade their domestic appliances but could not obtain them at many bricks-and-mortar outlets.

Trading has been hit by shops opening up again, as well as rising costs, supply chain disruption caused by a shortage of delivery drivers and semiconductors, and customers cancelling repair warranties to save cash.

The business has subsequently exited its underperforming German market and cut many senior and middle management positions to reduce costs.

These measures appear to be paying off, with AO World reporting in April that its full-year profits were expected to be at the high end of forecasts, its fourth earnings outlook hike since last July.

AO World shares were 7.5 per cent up at 74.75p on late Monday afternoon, while Frasers Group shares slid 0.2 per cent to £6.83.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: ‘Frasers is always one to spot a bargain and the big sell-off in AO’s share price – from above 400p in 2021 to sub-40p last summer – will not have gone unnoticed.

‘It describes the investment as the foundation for forming a strategic partnership – while it is easy to speculate that Frasers will eventually acquire AO outright, it has form for taking equity stakes but not making full takeovers.’

GSK landed a windfall of over £800million as it began selling down its stake in Sensodyne toothpaste maker Haleon.

The FTSE 100 pharma giant offloaded around 240million shares in the consumer health group, equivalent to a 2.6 per cent stake in the business. 

GSK sold the shares at 335p each, a 2.3 per cent discount to Haleon’s previous closing price, for a total haul of £804million.

Haleon, which also makes Panadol painkillers and Centrum vitamins, was spun out of GSK in July last year in the biggest European stock market listing for more than a decade.

After initially listing at 330p, the shares have since risen around 4.5 per cent. GSK retained a 12.9 per cent stake after the demerger and following the recent share sale still controls 10.4 per cent of the company.

Windfall: The FTSE 100 pharma giant offloaded around 240m shares in the consumer health group

As the sale had been expected, Haleon shares were little moved during the session, inching up 0.04 per cent, or 0.15p, to 343p.

GSK’s move to offload part of its stake followed reports earlier this month that US rival Pfizer, which owns nearly 26 per cent of Haleon, would start doing the same.

Pfizer’s finance chief David Denton previously said the company would begin selling its stake in a ‘slow and methodical’ manner. Following the GSK sale, both firms have pledged not to dispose of any more stock for at least 60 days.

‘They both said they would sell down their positions in time, but the ease at which GSK has placed 240million shares in Haleon would suggest it won’t have a problem selling the remaining 10.3 per cent stake in the business,’ said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

GSK also benefited after a Canadian court threw out a proposed class action lawsuit connected to its heartburn drug Zantac. The British Columbia Supreme Court ruled there was little evidence the drug led to an increased risk of cancer. GSK shares rose 1.8 per cent, or 25.4p, to 1470.2p.

The FTSE 100 climbed 0.3 per cent, or 24.04 points, to 7754.62 but the FTSE 250 slid 0.4 per cent, or 77.93 points, to 19188.37.

It came as data showed the UK had managed to avoid recession in the first quarter of this year despite being held back by strikes and the cost-of-living squeeze.

The figures showed Britain’s economy grew 0.1 per cent in the three months to the end of March, showing more resilience than economists had expected.

Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said: ‘There’s still no recession, but with the full drag from higher interest rates yet to be felt it is too soon to sound the all-clear.’

The Bank of England on Thursday ditched recession forecasts and upgraded its outlook over the next three years though still predicted that growth would be weak. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: ‘It’s good news that the economy is growing but to reach the Government’s growth priority we need to stay focused on competitive taxes, labour supply and productivity.’

Beazley rose 3 per cent, or 17.5p, to 604p after reporting a sharp jump in quarterly net premiums. The Lloyd’s of London insurer’s gross written premiums rose 12 per cent to £1.1bn in the first three months of the year.

But Johnnie Walker and Guinness maker Diageo fell 2.4 per cent, or 85p, to 3534.5p after broker Jefferies turned bearish on the stock.

Rolls-Royce shares recovered some of the previous session’s losses, rising 1.6 per cent, or 2.4p, to 148.3p having fallen nearly 7 per cent on Thursday. The sell-off came even as boss Tufan Erginbilgic said the recovery is now ‘moving at pace’.

There seemed to be disappointment, however, that this was not accompanied by an upgrade to forecasts. But in keeping with its status as one of the best performing blue-chip stocks of the year, the shares were on the rise yesterday.