Media and marketing research group, Aegis, today said that revenues for the first half of this year are expected to be comfortably ahead of last year in its three operating regions; Europe, US and Asia.
The trading update, issued prior to the interim results due on 7 September 2004, said that during the past few months Europe has shown respectable growth, especially in Southern Europe where the market is picking up, although France and Germany continue to struggle. However, Europe as a whole is still lacking behind the pace set by the United States and Asia.
The group says that spending in the advertising market remains positive and has outperformed the conservative forecast set in March of 5.3%, while spending patterns on custom market research are more in line with earlier expectations of 3.5%.
Synovate, the market research arm of Aegis, continues to gain market share and is deriving clear benefit from a now well established European network, says the statement. The recent expansion of Synovate Healthcare is performing particularly well and the group continues to invest in infrastructure to maintain the revenue momentum.
Aegis said that the strength of the pound continues to hold back growth in the group’s results. The US dollar and the Euro is down over 10% and 2% respectively against the pound, when compared to the same period last year.
As Aegis continues with several acquisitions including Proactive Insight, a leading market research firm in South Africa, it expects to demonstrate further good progress when the interim results are published and remain on track to deliver a result in line with expectations at the end of the year.
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