Aegis reports 16% rise in pre-tax profits
Aegis Group, the owner of Carat and Vizeum, says it is “relatively optimistic” about its performance over the coming year but sounded a cautious note about the “macro-economic outlook” for the year. It made the comments as it reported a 16% increase in underlying pre-tax profits for the year ending December 31.
It attributed the rise to wins by Carat and Vizeum such as Johnson & Johnson across Europe, Africa and the Middle East, 20th Century Fox and Mattel globally. It says its performance in the UK was “comfortably” ahead of the market. Carat USA was hit by a reduction in client budgets and has now been merged with Carat Fusion, its biggest digital business, to create an integrated agency model.
Meanwhile, revenue from its digital marketing services, through the Isobar network, now accounts for a quarter of Aegis Media, up from 20% in 2006. The network has developed into emerging markets and new technologies with acquisitions in mobile and digital ad-serving over the year.
It adds that research division, Synovate, has also delivered by increasing revenue from global clients with product innovation also continuing to drive it performance. Revenue for the division has increased by 8.9% and underlying operating profits was up by 18.3%.
