Porta Communications wins major Australian government contract

22nd Apr 2014 12:40

AIM-listed Porta Communications has revealed its Newgate Communications public relations business has been appointed by the Australian government to handle the second phase of the privatisation of state-owned health insurer Medibank. It said fees for this phase due to Newgate have been agreed at A$2.42m.Porta also announced it was launching Newgate in its second territory in the Middle East, with a new office in Doha, Qatar having already secured its first retainer contract.Chief Executive David Wright said: "With the launch of the Qatar business, we now have a very solid base on which to build our capability in the Middle East. We would anticipate breaking into profits in Qatar as quickly as we have done in Abu Dhabi, and expect both offices to work closely with each other."Shares in Porta were up 7.14% to 13.13p at 12:45 on Tuesday.OH