M&C Saatchi profits fall amid advertising slump

24th Sep 2009 07:27

Advertising firm M&C Saatchi saw revenues fall in the first half of 2009, but managed to stay profitable despite extremely difficult conditions for the sector. Pre-tax profits during the period fell to £5.4m from £8m over the same period the previous year as total revenues declined to £49.8m from £51.8m.Its UK business saw revenue fall by 6% to £23.8m, but still won work with big-name clients including the high street stores Boots and Carphone Warehouse.'Clients started to reduce communication budgets in the face of the economic headwinds in the last quarter of 2008, but we saw little impact on fees,' the firm said. In 2009 we are seeing significant pressure being applied to fees to reflect the reduction in activity.'Conditions have also been tough overseas, most notably at its Los Angeles office which saw a 36% fall in like-for-like revenue.Despite the turmoil, the company continued growing internationally, opening offices in Geneva, Sao Paolo and Tokyo.'What we can see suggests that conditions will remain depressed for the medium term as long as the budget outlook for our clients remains uncertain,' the firm said.'We believe however the group is in good shape.'