UK advertising and public relations group, Chime Communications, has this morning restated its expectation that the advertising market conditions will not improve until well into 2002, adding that trading in the second half of this year will be broadly in line with the same period last year.
Chime described the performance of its advertising businesses as ‘variable’. The HHCL agency has lost two major accounts, the AA and Egg, but won Captain Birds Eye across Europe and has become a Mars agency. Roose has made its budget and won Vanish from Reckitt Benckiser. The company’s technology business, Chime Online, has also encountered tougher trading conditions, the statement says.
In addition, the financial public relations businesses have suffered from the downturn in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity. Bell Pottinger and Good Relations and the AMD marketing services businesses are performing well in the current environment, says Chime.
Despite the more difficult conditions Chime is still expecting to maintain its “record of double-digit growth” in both revenues and operating profits for the year to December 2001.
