Group Press Releases
Pre-close Trading Statement
19 December 2007
Aegis Group plc (“Aegis”), the marketing communications group, today releases its regular trading update ahead of close period. We will report 2007 preliminary results on 19 March 2008.
At the 11 month stage, the group has continued to perform well. Group organic revenue growth, which was 9.6% in the first half, has remained very strong and significantly ahead of the market. Trading has been robust across both Aegis Media and Synovate, with client expenditure remaining strong.
As a result, we continue to expect to deliver good underlying improvement in pre-tax profit for the year at constant currency, in line with our expectations.
We have made further strategic acquisitions to broaden our geographic reach and services. Second-half acquisitions have included Heartland in out-of-home in China and digital agency ION Global in Korea, Hong Kong and the US at Aegis Media, and SPSL in the UK and Europe, in the fast-growing area of footfall measurement and analysis, at Synovate.
As previously announced, we successfully completed a new $125.0m US private placement of seven and 10 year notes in September to refinance our maturing $118.5m US private placement.
Aegis Media
Organic revenue growth has been strong across all regions in the
year-to-date, reflecting our leadership in digital and a good
record of new business wins over the past two years, including
General Motors in Europe and Twentieth Century Fox
internationally.
Net new business momentum has remained good, with second half major wins including Mattel internationally, The Coca-Cola Company’s consolidation in the UK, Kellogg’s in the Nordics and Outback Steakhouse in the US.
Last week, Carat was named global Media Network of the Year by industry publication Campaign for a second year running.
Synovate
Organic revenue growth at Synovate has continued well ahead of the
market in the second half, and has been strong in all regions. This
reflects the ongoing success of our global client relationships
programme, new solutions, and specialist practices, including
Healthcare and Motoresearch.
For further information contact:
Charlotte Elston
Aegis Group plc
+44 (0) 20 7070 7708
Tim Spratt / Charles Palmer
Financial Dynamics
+44 (0) 20 7831 3113
