Despite seeing an increase in turnover of 7% from 拢5.7bn in 2000 to 拢6.1bn last year, operating margins fell. The group was hard hit, in particular, by the economic crisis in Argentina, which contributed 拢10m to its 拢18.6m in exceptional costs.
Aegis, which owns mainly market research assets along with its media-buying network, said that it is not banking on there being any upturn in 2002 and is predicting adspend levels that are either flat or slightly down for the full year.
According to Aegis chief executive Doug Flynn: "We fully expect the current difficult trading conditions to persist for much of 2002, but the group should nevertheless feel the benefits of the actions we have taken in 2001."
Last year was the second year of aggressive expansion for Aegis, with the company spending 拢29m on acquiring whole or majority stakes in 15 market research and media-buying companies around the world. In 2000, acquisitions totalled 拢26.9m.
Last week, Aegis saw its share price rise, following the announcement that Publicis Groupe was acquiring B|Com3, sending the market into a frenzy of consolidation speculation. Aegis could now become a takeover target for several of the world's largest ad companies, including WPP Group, Omnicom or Havas Advertising, which lost out to WPP last year for Tempus.
Shares in Aegis fell when the market opened this morning, trading down by 4.97% to 108.5p.
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