(Bloomberg) -- S4 Capital Plc named consultant Jean-Benoit Berty, a former senior partner at EY, as its new chief operating officer and restructured its board as the UK advertising company faces continued revenue declines this year. 

The agency also said it would develop a “more traditional board,” removing managers including Christopher Martin, Victor Knaap, Wes ter Haar and Scott Spirit, who will keep their executive roles at the company. Ter Haar will become a board observer, S4 said in a statement on Wednesday. 

S4, founded by Executive Chairman Martin Sorrell after he left ad giant WPP Plc in 2018, reported a 2.1% decline in net revenue to £873.2 million ($1.1 billion) in 2023 and said it expects clients to “remain cautious” in the near term. The company has been hit particularly hard by pullbacks compared to rivals. WPP forecast sales growth of as much as 1% and Publicis Groupe SA as much as 5% this year. 

Sorrell’s company said net sales will continue to decline on a like-for-like basis  in 2024 and operational earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will be similar to last year.

“After our first four strong net revenue growth years, we had a difficult 2023 reflecting challenging global macroeconomic conditions, fears of recession and high interest rates,” Sorrell said in the statement. Berty’s “extensive management consulting experience will be of great value in focusing on the opportunities and challenges we face.”

Shares dropped 11% at 8:56 am in London trading on Wednesday. The stock has declined 26% this year.

Read More: Ad Mogul Sorrell’s Post-WPP Revenge Falters As Shares Tumble

The company’s share declines have attracted takeover offers from ad firm Stagwell, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. Sorrell rebuffed the offers as too low, though his reluctance to consider bids has frustrated some of the firm’s senior officers, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter who it didn’t name. 

Sorrell told Bloomberg in an interview on Wednesday that S4 hasn’t “received anything credible,” from a bidder. “We control our own destiny,” he said. 

(Adds shares, Sorrell comments from sixth paragraph)

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