According to reports, when Chime states its full-year results on Tuesday, it is expected to report exceptional costs of at least 拢12m, with profit before exceptional items and goodwill of 拢7m.
Last November, Chime's share price plummeted after it warned profits for the full year would be "well below market expectations". At the same time, it admitted that it had broken banking agreements on 拢28m worth of debt. Lord Bell, chairman of Chime, said at the time: "Pressure on fees is extreme across the whole group."
At the beginning of this year, Chime sold half its stake in HHCL & Partners to the WPP Group for a figure reported to be around 拢4m. Chime has the option to sell its remaining stake in the agency, renamed by WPP as HHCL/Red Cell, in 2004.
There has been an improvement in new business wins in the last quarter of the year and this year. Chime has picked up work for Sun Microsystems, TalksSPORT and Nestle Rowntree, and its financial PR agencies, hard hit by the downturn in M&A activity in the City, have won 18 deals between them, valued at around 拢4bn, including Wal-Mart's Safeway bid, as well as the Equitable Members Action Group.
Agencies owned by Chime include Bell Pottinger Public Relations, Smithfield Financial, the branded content arm Will Pond-Jones Collective, and above-the-line agency Roose.
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