18th Sep 2024 12:38
(Alliance News) - M&C Saatchi PLC on Wednesday said it has swung to a profit in the first half of 2024, despite "continued volatility" in its markets.
The London-based advertising agency said revenue for the six-month period ended June 30 was GBP213.6 million, down 1.4% on-year from GBP216.7 million.
The agency also swung to a pretax profit of GBP11.3 million from a loss of GBP5.1 million.
Like-for-like revenue was up 4.2% to GBP211.5 million from GBP202.9 million, and like-for-like pretax profit rose 26% to GBP14.2 million from GBP11.3 million.
The company said that "solid" third quarter trading to date underpinned its confidence in delivering full year results in line with market expectations.
Chief Executive Officer Zaid Al-Qassab said: "I am delighted to present this strong set of results, my first as CEO, which demonstrate the benefits of our ongoing transformation and diversity of our specialisms. Whilst preserving creativity at the heart of all we do, and leveraging the power of our global brand, we are creating a more agile, integrated, regional-first operating model which focuses on growth.
"Looking forward, despite continued volatility within our markets, we are confident that we are on track to deliver against market expectations for 2024, whilst noting the tougher second half comparators. We will continue to deliver on our cost saving program whilst also making strategic investments in the second half of the year to underpin our ambition of long-term sustainable growth and delivering strong returns for shareholders."
Shares in M&C Saatchi were up 3.4% at 198.00 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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