11th Sep 2014 09:03
LONDON (Alliance News) - M&C Saatchi PLC Thursday posted strong profit growth and revenue momentum for the first half of 2014, driven by the Americas and the UK and new business wins, prompting the company to declare a 15% increase in its dividend.
The advertising and marketing company said its strong first half has given it confidence for a successful full-year outcome, after its pretax profit rose 17% to GBP13.4 million, up from GBP1.8 million a year earlier, when the company was hit by a large number of finance costs. The profit gain was boosted by an uptick in revenue to GBP82.6 million, up from GBP80.1 million in the first half of 2013, as well as a GBP5.4 million finance income gain.
"This success is based upon a combination of new business wins in our core operations and a growing contribution from our developing new businesses. Most of these have yet to reach their full potential, and we are anticipating even better returns in 2015," said Chief Executive David Kershaw in a statement.
M&C Saatchi increased its dividend to 1.40 pence, up 15% on the 1.21 pence it declared last year.
The company said said revenue growth of 17% in the UK was driven by a strong performance from its CRM and mobile operations, while like-for-like revenue growth of 14% in Europe was buoyed by strong trading in Stockholm, Germany and Italy.
The stand out performer in terms of revenue came from the Americas, which posted a 57% increase increase like-for-like revenue.
Like-for-like revenue in the Middle East and Africa was up 11%, boosted by a number of business wins, however revenue in Asia and Australasia fell by 3%, following the loss of a big account.
M&C Saatchi shares were up 1.5% at 280.00 pence Thursday morning.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
M&C Saatchi