Third quarter net income of £2.8 million (€2.78m; £1.76m) was reported this week by Grey Global Group – nearly double the $1.5m reported for the same period last year.
But no-one in the Grey boardroom is breaking out the champagne, the result owing more to changes in accounting procedures than an upturn in adspend. On a per-share basis, diluted earnings were $1.76 compared with $1.23 year-on-year.
Underscoring the fact that the worldwide advertising environment remains bleak, Q3 revenue fell 1.9% to $290.4m from $295.9m in the same quarter in 2001. The company blamed “adverse market conditions, coupled with local client losses and weakness in key advertising categories” in Northern Europe and Latin America.
For the nine months ended September 30, Grey earned $8.7 million on revenue of $866.1 million, versus earnings of $4.1 million on revenues of $915.1 million for the same period last year.
Performance for the period was also depressed by “certain professional costs and other accruable expenses” related to the ongoing investigation of the print production industry by the US Justice Department [WAMN: 26-Mar-02].
Data sourced from: AdAge.com; additional content by WARC staff
