Posting its interim results today, Aegis said it had met its own forecasts and that it was in a good position to deliver results for the rest of the year. The positive news pushed Aegis' share price up 5% when the market opened this morning to 72.5p, an increase of 3.5p.
Revenues at the group rose to 拢273.3m for the six months ending June 30 2002, while operating profits rose 3.3% to 拢31.2m. Turnover was up 2.1% to 拢3.1bn.
Carat, the world's largest independent media company, is finally starting to shake its image as being only strong in Europe, with the US operations rising by 29% for the first half of the year. Big account wins included the Hyundai/Kia business in North America. Overall, Carat's media operations increased revenues by 10.3% to 拢179.3m, from 拢162.6m in 2001.
In Europe, the cornerstone of Carat's media operation, net billings rose to 拢182m, compared with 拢169m last time, with a number of new-business wins, including British Gas and TotalFinaElf, helping to boost its performance.
Doug Flynn, chief executive of Aegis, said: "This has been a longer and deeper advertising recession than anyone predicted. The US advertising market began to show some tentative signs of recovery in the first half of the year, however the European market was down. The continued depressed market conditions have affected profitability. Nevertheless, the group has continued to show organic growth in a global market that has contracted."
He added: "Our media division Carat continues to perform well, with the US achieving good growth through new-business wins."
Aegis has now formally launched its market research division, Synovate, as a global brand. Revenues for the market research business were 拢94m, up by 9.4% on the same period last year.
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