Aegis Group‘s first-quarter growth rate outpaced that of larger holding company rivals. The company announced a 9.1% increase in revenue for the period.
The U.K.-based communications and research group’s growth rate in the first quarter puts it ahead of rivals WPP (6.7%), Publicis Groupe (6.5%), Omnicom Group (5.2%) and Havas Group (6.8%). Aegis Group did not announce specific revenue figures for the period.
The Aegis Media division of the group, which includes Carat, Isobar, Vizeum and Posterscope, delivered organic revenue growth of 10.1% in the first quarter, driven by the strength of North America, where new-business wins included Home Depot and Disney.
Aegis Group claimed total net new business wins of $1.6 billion in the first quarter, compared to $800 million in the first quarter of 2010.
The first-quarter results show that Aegis is back on track after its full year 2010 figures, released in March, showed a 25% fall in pre tax profits from $147 million to $109 million, mainly due to the $40 million debt owed by former Spanish client Nueva Rumasa.
Aegis Group said it expected client advertising and research expenditure to continue to grow throughout 2011, despite uncertainty in Japan and the Middle East.
“Aegis performed strongly in the first quarter of 2011, and remains well placed to build on this performance and achieve further revenue and profit growth in 2011,” said Aegis Group CEO Jerry Buhlmann. “We remain on track to deliver organic growth for 2011 at least in line with the level achieved last year.”
He said Aegis and will continue to focus on costs and that he expects underlying profits for 2011 to be up on 2010.
Aegis Group’s research arm Synovate delivered organic revenue growth of 7.3%, with China India, South Africa and Brazil singled out as the star performers.
In Canada, Aegis operates divisions of its Vizeum and Carat media agencies, Isobar full-service agency and IProspect digital shop.
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