Agency group Chime Communications is warning of further ad weakness after posting a sharp drop in sales for the first half.
Revenues tumbled to £49.38 million ($80.3m; €71.0m) in the opening six months of 2003, down from £64.05m in the same period the year before. Pre-tax profits slipped from £4.6m to £3m.
The UK-based group – owner of AMD Group, Roose and Pure Media, among others – added that the number of business pitches it won in the first half was up, but the average value of each new account has been falling.
However, Chime insists it is in a strong position for new business in the last six months of the year, even though the outlook for advertising remains weak.
Commented chairman Lord Tim Bell: “There is little visibility of growth in our market and conditions are still very testing.”
Data sourced from: mad.co.uk; additional content by WARC staff
