Sir Martin Sorrell blamed volatile macroeconomic conditions and caution among its tech sector clients for a near 20% drop in first-quarter revenues at S4 Capital PLC (LSE:SFOR).
"We continue to develop our larger, scaled relationships with leading enterprise clients and are increasing our focus on margin improvement through greater efficiency, utilisation, billability and pricing," the S4 chairman added.
"We maintain our targets for the full year and, as in prior years, financial performance will be significantly second-half weighted reflecting both our normal seasonality and an expected improvement in market conditions."
Revenues for the three months ended March 31 fell to £210.2 million from £261.7 million with the technology services sector faring worst as it posted a 31% decline.
The outturn was flagged in a profit warning issued at the end of March.
Going forward, Sorrell has promised a greater emphasis on the use of artificial intelligence. "In addition to significant new business activity, we continue to capitalise on our prominent AI positioning, developing multiple initial assignments as clients start to experiment with and implement applications," he said.