After the statement was released at midday at the company's AGM, Incepta shares fell 8.1% to trade at 34p.
According to Incepta, which owns the PR agencies Citigate Dewe Rogerson and the Red Consultancy, the climate continues to be tough.
It said: "Overall visibility remains weak and this has been exacerbated by the recent sharp reduction in market and investor confidence. Current indications are that the expected modest second-half recovery will be slower to materialise than originally anticipated."
Its financial PR business, Citigate Dewe Rogerson, faced a further setback this week as a result of the downturn, when its client Yell cancelled its IPO because of the tough market conditions.
The company, headed by executive chairman David Wright, also says it expects to take a one-off hit of 拢2m in the first half of the year, relating to property restructuring costs.
There were a couple of bright spots in the statement. Incepta said that its US technology PR business -- hard hit by the dotcom bust -- had returned to profitability, and that US businesses in general had been trading "marginally ahead of budget".
It also said that Dynamo, the promotional marketing agency, and Red turned in particularly strong performances.
However, Incepta said that continental European operations had performed weakly.
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