Aegis, owner of media-buying agencies Carat and Vizeum, market research network Synovate and digital marketing service Isobar, reported pre-tax profits up to £42.5m from £36.9m last time.
Aegis revenues rose to £463m from £389m the previous year. Group organic growth was up 7.2% with a strong contribution from businesses acquired in 2005, including sponsorship firm Creo in Norway, Suddenly Stockholm in digital media services in Sweden and out-of-home company Integrator in South Africa.
Aegis trumpeted its growth in digital media, which now accounts for 19% of Aegis Media's revenue compared with 13% for the first half of last year. Its digital marketing service Isobar's revenue was up 30%.
Aegis Media recorded a revenue rise of 15% from £280m from £244.2m. The group's market research network Synovate reported strong growth in revenue, up 25.9% to £182.3m from £144.8m.
New business wins across the group contributed to the strong growth, including Carat's Abbey Digital win in the UK, Fiat/Lancia in Germany, Orange in Spain and Hutchinson 3G in Italy. Vizeum's wins included HP Foods in the UK and Alain Afflelou in France. The international expansion of Vizeum continued, with new offices added in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Russia and Estonia.
In addition, Aegis extended its presence in China, consolidating Gain Concept Advertising and acquiring Chinese brand and marketing consultancy New Voice in May.
The success of Coca-Cola's virtual reality playroom, , launched in April, led to the group's digital agency, wwwins, being appointed Coca-Cola's agency of record for mainland China.
Robert Lerwill, chief executive of Aegis, said: "We've had a good first half. Aegis Media and Synovate have both delivered strong organic revenue growth, once again ahead of their markets.
"Our worldwide appointment by Adidas-Reebok shows the value of our investment in digital and communications planning, putting us in a perfect place to get to important consumer groups such as the influential but hard-to-reach 17-year-old.
"With a record new business performance in Aegis Media and a strong order book at Synovate, we expect to deliver further good growth this year and beyond."
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