18th Aug 2015 06:37
LONDON (Alliance News) - Chime Communications PLC Tuesday said its performance in 2015 has been good so far, though it reported a fall in pretax profit for the first half as major sporting events that boosted its performance in the previous year were not repeated.
Chime said it expects its good performance to continue into the second half.
The communications and sports marketing company agreed to a takeover by FTSE 100-listed advertising and marketing giant WPP PLC and US private equity company Providence Equity Partners at the end of July, in a deal that values the company at GBP374 million. The takeover is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of the year.
For the half year to end-June, Chime posted a pretax profit of GBP1.4 million, down from GBP9.6 million a year before, as revenue declined to GBP184.5 million from GBP198.5 million.
In the first half of 2014, the company's Sport and Entertainment businesses were boosted by the FIFA World Cup and the Sochi Winter Olympics. In the first half of 2015, Chime's major event was the European Games in Baku, which was smaller.
During the period, average fee per client was GBP83,000, compared to GBP73,000 in the first half of 2014.
The company said that the restructuring of its Sport and Entertainment business is progressing well as it focuses on the consolidation and integration of acquisitions it made in previous years.
"The second half of the year will see a benefit from the timing of sports events including the UK Rugby World Cup and Ashes Series, as well as the continuing strong performances of our marketing services businesses: VCCP, Open Health, CIE and the Chime Specialist Group," said Chief Executive Officer Christopher Satterthwaite.
Chime proposed an interim dividend of 2.53 pence, maintained from the previous year.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
CHW.L