Turnover at the group was down by 8% to £122m for the six months ending August 31 2003, while pre-tax profits, excluding goodwill and exceptional items, slipped to £5.9m, compared with £9.7m for the same period last year.
Incepta said that it had been hit by the difficult trading environment and also by weak trading at two of its US-based agencies, the business intelligence unit Citigate Global Intelligence & Security and financial agency Citigate Broad Street.
However, it said that trading in the second quarter of the year, ending August 31 2003, had seen significant improvements, and tried to put a positive spin on the results by saying that profit margins for the second quarter were around 13%.
"The half year began with weak economic conditions, exacerbated by the uncertainties created by the Iraq conflict," Richard Nichols, chief executive of Incepta, said.
"Despite this, the group has produced results in line with expectations and, within this, has maintained robust margins and seen significantly stronger trading in the second quarter."
Incepta said that the group was in good shape, but that it would continue to be affected by the general economic climate and could not be certain that current improvement would be sustained.
Shares in the company, traded on the London Stock Exchange, were trading steady this morning, at 98.5p.
Other agencies in the group include the sponsorship consultancy Karen Earl Associates, Incepta Online and Dynamo.
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