In a statement ahead of its annual general meeting today, SMG chairman Chris Masters said that prospects remain encouraging despite growth in the second quarter of the year being slower than in the first quarter.
"There is undoubtedly more caution on the part of advertisers due to the slowdown in consumer spending. This has led to the market becoming more short term but, as yet, we have not seen evidence of a major downturn in advertising spending," he said.
Virgin Radio is riding a wave after the news it has signed Xfm's Christian O'Connell to host its breakfast show when current presenters Pete & Geoff leave next year.
The company has also signed Yahoo! UK & Ireland managing director Fru Hazlitt as its new chief executive. She will join in late summer.
Other areas of the group to perform well include outdoor advertising unit Primesight, which Masters said was "continuing to thrive".
SMG said that new-business wins at cinema advertising business Pearl & Dean would go some way towards mitigating the loss of the UGC contract in 2006.
Television production is also doing well. Its studios make programmes including ITV's 'People's Court' and it is filming the 75th episode of Glasgow-based television drama 'Taggart'. SMG said the unit was performing at a peak.
"Our businesses continue to see growth and we remain cautiously optimistic that we will achieve our current expectations for the group in 2005," Masters said.
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