Aegis Group Share Discussion Threads

[maut too] 09/9/2004 14:54

MRS Stock talk : Investec ups Aegis forecasts
09-Sep-2004 14:50
Investec Securities upgrades Aegis
Group FY 2004 and FY 2005 forecasts by
7% and 10% respectively.
Now sees FY 2004 PBT at #94m versus
#87m, and FY 2005 PBT at #106m versus
#97m.
Both units are trading ahead of
markets, indicating that recovery is
not just externally driven.
With margins set to benefit from
pricing and a volume upside, chances of
upgrades through the current marketing
upturn are increasingly encouraging.
Has a buy rating.
At 1445 BST, trades up 0.25p, 0.3% at
95.25p. (BXW)

1350 GMT Sep 09 2004

[maut too] 09/9/2004 07:46

£23m profit a great advert for Aegis
8 September 2004, Daily Mail

HE advertising recession of 2001 is a distant memory for media buyer Aegis. Its order books are the strongest for five years and half-year pre-tax profits soared 75% to £23.5m.





Excluding the weak dollar effect and acquisitions, revenues were up 6.6%. Sales across Europe - Aegis's largest region - are growing everywhere bar Germany. The shares closed up 5 1/4p to 92 3/4p as it announced that it would start to buy back shares.



Chief executive Doug Flynn's pay package was voted down by shareholders in May. Chairman Lord Sharman is trying to ease City concerns about his unusual two-year contract.



Grocery giant Procter & Gamble awarded Aegis a chunky contract formerly held by US rival Grey which is now up for sale.



Grey is inviting bids by today. WPP is expected to submit a cash-and-shares bid of around £700m. It is up against French ad firm Havas and private equity bidders. WPP declined to comment.

[maut too] 08/9/2004 09:05

Marketing upturn aids Aegis

Chris Tryhorn
Wednesday September 8, 2004
The Guardian

The media buying group Aegis said yesterday its profits in the first half of the year rose 18% on the back of new business and improving economic conditions, especially in Europe.
The group - which owns the Carat network and the Synovate market research unit - said underlying profit before tax was £36.4m in the first six months of the year compared with £30.9m a year earlier.

Revenue was £338.9m, up 15% from £294.7m in the first part of 2003.

Doug Flynn, the chief executive, said the company's operations were winning "significantly more than their share" of new business. The group received a boost in July when it secured a multimillion dollar account from Procter & Gamble, the worldwide household goods corporation.

The deal, thought to be worth £12m a year in revenue, helped to dispel doubts raised by analysts about Aegis's ability to win new business.

Aegis said yesterday the recovery in the European advertising market had quickened in the first half of the year, with the strong trend in the US and Asia Pacific continuing.

Last week Carat raised its predictions for worldwide advertising spending. It expects it to rise by 5.7% this year and 5% in 2005. Spending is seen as rising 4.4% in Europe over the same period, and to climb 5.8% and 4.8% in 2004 and 2005 respectively in the US.

Aegis said yesterday that Synovate's revenues rose 31.4% following the acquisition of Symmetrics, a firm that measures customer satisfaction.

The group said it would grow through investment and "selective smaller acquisitions", though it was not planning any major purchases. The board has decided to buy back shares "as appropriate and as the opportunity arises".

"Prospects for the business are brighter than they have been for some time," it said.

· Lord Bell's Chime Communications said yesterday it went back into the black in the first half of the year, making a £3.2m pre-tax profit, compared with a £5.3m loss in the first six months of 2003. The group - mainly a public relations firm that owns Bell Pottinger- also said it had cut net debt by £21m to £8.8m.

[maut too] 08/9/2004 07:41

MRS Stock talk : UBS lowers Aegis price target
08-Sep-2004 07:29
UBS lowers Aegis target price to 122p
from 130p. Keeps buy rating.
Shares closed yesterday at 92.75p.
(TRF)

0629 GMT Sep 08 2004

[maut too] 08/9/2004 07:36

The Questor column
Edited by Philip Aldrick (Filed: 08/09/2004)




Spectacular progress at Aegis

Stand in the middle of Times Square, look up at the Coca-Cola advert and think of Aegis. This, at least, is what chief executive Doug Flynn would have you do. The head of the media buying and research group appears justifiably proud of the ad, the first from its US "Spectaculars" outdoor advertising business.



In terms of contract size, it's not a big deal but it helps illustrate how Aegis has confounded its critics and managed to win new business. The "communications planning" contract win with Procter & Gamble also demonstrates its strategy appears to be paying off.

First-half trading was strong in both the media and its smaller research division, and the numbers comfortably outdid City forecasts, leading to a series of analyst upgrades for the full year.

The media arm, consisting chiefly of the Carat and Vizeum network, put in a particularly strong performance in the US and Asia Pacific regions, with the European market slower to catch up on the recovery.

Although a dip in consumer spending in 2005 may see a slowing in the rate of growth, particularly in the US where political advertising and government spending tend to decrease after an election, chief executive Doug Flynn said he was "optimistic that the prospects for the business are brighter than they have been for some time".

The company said yesterday that while it would consider bolt-on buys, it had no plans to use its cash for any major acquisitions, leaving itself free to begin an "opportunistic" share buy-back programme.

It described the possible returns as "extremely attractive", giving a further lift to the shares, which ended the day 5.25 higher at 92.75p.

At that level, they trade on a forward earnings multiple of around 16.8 times, on a par with its sub-sector rivals. But with the expectations of another period of outperformance, the upside potential means the shares are worth considering.

Spectacular progress at Aegis | Haze clears for brighter view | Britannic still has some work to do

[maut too] 08/9/2004 07:33

The Investment Column: Aegis offers long-term growth
Time to take property profits in Brixton - Wellington might be worth a look at this price
Edited by Stephen Foley
08 September 2004


Aegis is a share for the cynics among you.

Because products from different companies are all pretty much the same, it is the skill of a company's marketing message that may persuade a consumer to choose one toothpaste, beer or whatever over another.

This base fact means that marketing becomes inexorably a more sophisticated process, requiring the sort of specialist services that Aegis can offer. Companies require a wider range of marketing services, such as in-store promotions and direct mail, rather than just the traditional placing of ads in papers and television.

Aegis offers clients the big advantage of independent advice. Unlike integrated rivals, it does not have in-house agencies that actually make ads. The company plans and buys advertising space on behalf of corporate clients including Renault and Cadbury, and it is winning more and more new business.

Also, as clients need to come to an ever more complex understanding of consumer behaviour, Aegis can offer further help, for instance through its consumer psychology research.

So advertising is generally an expanding industry, despite the few duff years we have seen recently. Aegis says ad spend is growing again pretty strongly in most countries.

For a number of reasons, Aegis is better placed than bigger rivals to benefit from the recovery. It is growing fast, according to its chief executive Doug Flynn, because it does not mess around with big acquisitions. The alternative - bolt-on purchases and investment in its existing network - does seem to have paid off. Pre-tax profit, before exceptionals, was up 18 per cent in the first half of the year, at £36.4m.

In addition, Aegis is focused mainly on Europe, so as the advertising upturn takes hold here (it has lagged the US and Asian recoveries), the company will benefit proportionately more than the big boys. The shares, at 92.75p, may not be obviously cheap on a forward multiple of 17, but are worth buying for the long term.

[maut too] 08/9/2004 07:30

CATEGORY: TIPS ROUND-UP SECTOR: MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
Wednesday tips round-up: Aegis, Hays, Antofagasta, Brixton

Wed 08 Sep 2004


LONDON (SHARECAST) - Ad agency Aegis says ad spend is growing again pretty strongly in most countries, notes the Independent, which adds that though the shares are not cheap they are worth buying for the long term.

Aegis is free to use its cash pile to begin an "opportunistic" share buy-back programme, says the Telegraph, noting that expectations of more upside potential means the shares are worth considering.

[maut too] 07/9/2004 09:02

CAS Aegis Group : Interim results - statement
07-Sep-2004 09:01
The Group has enjoyed a good first
half in 2004 outperforming the market
in both media and market research
across all geographic regions.
The tentative market recovery in
Europe which started in the latter part
of 2003 gathered pace in 2004 and the
well-established recovery in the US and
Asia-Pacific continued into the current
period.
However the excellent progress that
Aegis has made in both growing market
share and profits is due to more than
just improving market conditions.
The global brand strategy adopted over
the past few years has enabled each of
Aegis' businesses to be clearly
differentiated in their markets and to
win more than their share of new
business. Aegis Media won nearly $1.2
billion of net new business billings in
the first half of 2004 compared with
just over $0.5bn in the same period
last year and Synovate ended the period
with an order book substantially ahead
of Jun. 30, 2003.
The underlying operating profit for
the first six months of 2004 was 21.0%
ahead of last year in constant currency
terms, but with both the Euro and the
US Dollar falling against the Pound the
increase on translation into Sterling
was 17.3%.
Significantly, the increase in
operating profit against last year was
driven mainly by organic revenue growth
within Aegis Media and Synovate, both
of which showed like-for-like growth of
6.6%. The underlying operating margin
improved in both Aegis Media and
Synovate and the Company continues to
seek further improvement in this area.
The Board is confident that the
Company's current performance will
continue to improve and, given the
recent share price range, it believes
that the returns produced by a share
buy back programme are extremely
attractive. The Board is authorised
to buy back up to 5% of the Company's
equity and when appropriate it intends
to purchase shares within this
authority over the coming months.
The Group continued to follow its
programme of small strategic
acquisitions, with a net cash outflow
of #21.8m on current and prior period
acquisitions.
In July, the Group took advantage of
an improving banking market to
refinance its banking facilities at
much improved margins. A new five year
syndicated loan facility of #250m was
agreed to replace the existing #200m 3
year facility taken out in 2003. With
this facility in place the Company will
have sufficient financial resources to
fund a potential share buy back
programme as well as to continue its
strategy of making smaller bolt-on
acquisitions.
As a result of their review of
accounting policy, the Group's new
auditors advised that the policy on the
timing of recognition of cash payments
to creditors, although showing a
prudent view of the cash balance, is
not an appropriate practice. The Group
has adopted the auditors' recommended
policy in this regard as explained in
note 1 on page 15.
The effect of this change is to show a
significantly lower level of net debt
in the balance sheet than under the
previous policy. Net debt at Jun. 30,
2004 is shown at #85.0m and the average
level of month-end net debt in the
period was #59.8m.
In the past few years Aegis has
invested to increase the scale and
focus of its businesses. The Group now
has a strong portfolio of brands which
are ideally positioned to continue
their growth in market share and
maximise the opportunity presented by
the improving trading environment.
Looking at the market in which the
Group operates it is clear that the
global marketing recession that began
in late 2000 is now over with Europe
belatedly joining North America and
Asia-Pacific in recovery. Within
Europe, the UK, France, Spain and Italy
have all experienced improved market
growth although Germany continues to
lag. Global advertising spend is
expected to show continued improvement
with full year forecasts for 2004 at
5.7% being slightly more favourable
than predicted six months ago.
Although the prospects for 2005 are
less certain, the recent pattern of
growth is expected to continue.

ICV Edited News from Dow Jones
0801 GMT Sep 07 2004

[maut too] 07/9/2004 08:40

LONDON (AFX) - Aegis Group said the global marketing recession that began in 2000 is over and the outlook for 2004 is now slightly more favourable, forecasting global spending on advertising to grow by 5.7 pct compared with last year.

The improved outlook is expected to continue into 2005, although Aegis noted some element of uncertainty.

The group reported better-than-expected first-half pretax profit of 36.4 mln stg before goodwill, up from 30.9 mln stg last year.

Dividend was up 10.6 pct to 0.575 pence per share.

The consensus of analysts' forecasts was for pretax profit of 34.0 mln stg.

Revenues also beat expectations, rising to 338.9 mln stg versus 294.7 mln.

Aegis Media said it won nearly 1.2 bln usd of net new business billings in the first half of 2004 compared with just over 500,000 stg in the same period last year and Synovate ended the period with an order book substantially ahead of the end of June last year, the company said.

The company said the increase in operating profit against last year was driven mainly by organic revenue growth within Aegis Media and Synovate, both of which showed like-for-like growth of 6.6 pct.

"The board is confident that the company's current performance will continue to improve and, given the recent share price range, it believes that the returns produced by a share buy back programme are extremely attractive."

The board is authorised to buy back up to 5 pct of the company's equity and when appropriate, it intends to purchase shares within this authority over the coming months.

[e-mail]

[maut too] 07/9/2004 08:00

CAS Aegis Group : Confident Of Good Full Year
07-Sep-2004 07:57

Aegis Group Plc Tuesday said its
first-half net profit surged to #11.7
million from #3.0 million in the
year-ago period. Turnover rose to #3.6
million from #3.5 million.
Doug Flynn, chief executive, said:
"Our media businesses are winning
significantly more than their share of
new business and Synovate is carrying
forward a comfortably higher order book
than at the same stage last year.
"I am confident Aegis will deliver
another good performance for the full
year."

ICV Edited News from Dow Jones
0657 GMT Sep 07 2004

[maut too] 07/9/2004 07:56

LONDON (AFX) - Aegis Group said the global marketing recession that began in 2000 is over and the outlook for 2004 is now slightly more favourable, forecasting global spending on advertising to grow by 5.7 pct compared with last year.

The improved outlook is expected to continue into 2005, although Aegis noted some element of uncertainty.

The group reported better-than-expected first-half pretax profit of 36.4 mln stg before goodwill, up from 30.9 mln stg last year.

The consensus of analysts' forecasts was for pretax profit of 34.0 mln stg.

Revenues also beat expectations, rising to 338.9 mln stg versus 294.7 mln.

[e-mail]

ow/ra

[maut too] 07/9/2004 07:48

MRS Stock talk : Aegis Group H1 strong
07-Sep-2004 07:30
Aegis Group H1 figures are strong,
with good performance in market
research, says CAI Chevreux.
Notes confident guidance, start of
buyback. "Now's a good time to produce
good numbers," says analyst Alex de
Groote, who retains his outperform
rating.
Shares closed yesterday at 87.5p.

0630 GMT Sep 07 2004

[maut too] 07/9/2004 07:47

CAS Aegis : Aegis interim results
07-Sep-2004 07:11
Aegis
6 months to 30 June
()=Loss/Debit
Figs in #m and pence (p), unless
otherwise stated.
2004 2003

Turnover 3,622.6 3,464.5
Revenue 338.9 294.7
Underlying pretax
profit* 36.4 30.9
Pretax profit 23.5 13.4
EPS- underlying
- basic* 2.2p 1.9p
- diluted* 2.2p 1.9p
EPS- FRS 14
- basic 1.1p 0.3p
- diluted 1.1p 0.3p
Interim dividend 0.575p 0.52p


*before charging goodwill amortisation

[maut too] 06/9/2004 12:23

MRS Stock talk : Aegis tests 88.5p pre-H1
06-Sep-2004 12:16
Aegis Group is testing the 78.6%
Fibonacci retracement of the June-
August decline as well as its July 21
high at 88.5p ahead of H1 earnings out
tomorrow.
In case of an advance through the
high, 89.5p area would be eyed next and
then the 91.75p end-of-June high, says
Axel Rudolph, DJ's Chief Technical
Analyst for Europe.
Support comes in at 87p today.
At 1156 BST, shares up 1.5p, 1.7% at
88.5p. (ARU)

1116 GMT Sep 06 2004

[maut too] 06/9/2004 08:16

New note from Deutsche

ahead of the media groups interim figures the broker is forecasting strong organic growth in pre tax profits

in europe the market remains strong while in the US AND Asia the groups business is growing at a faster pace than rivals

the market remains competative however and the challenge for management is to maintain margin recovery

[maut too] 04/9/2004 12:23

Online ad spending leads the way in global growth
By William Kay INDY
04 September 2004

As the Aegis advertising group raised its forecasts for global advertising growth yesterday, a bidding war was breaking out over the future of Grey Global, the US ad agency.

Those in the know are saying that the London-based WPP Group is set to bid up to £700m for Grey, in rivalry with the US private equity group, Hellman & Friedman. The French agency group, Havas, is also expected to make a play.

Ed Meyer, Grey's chief executive and controlling shareholder, put the company up for sale in July, calling for offers to be in by next week.

Grey shares rose $12.09 (£6.75) to $912.50 in early trade on Wall Street yesterday, valuing the group at more than $1bn.

The bullish Aegis survey boosted shares by 1.5p to 87.5p. It has raised its forecast for ad spending for 2004 from 5.3 per cent to 5.7 per cent, and from 4.4 per cent to 5 per cent for 2005.

"This growth is being led by the US and European markets, although growth in Asia-Pacific remains robust," said Doug Flynn, the Aegis chief executive.

After a three-year industry recession, the big driver in Europe has been the Euro 2004 soccer championship, while the US presidential election has provided a worldwide stimulus.

The recovery is "now global", Mr Flynn said, with Europe due to expand by 4.4 per cent this year, the US by 5.8 per cent and Asia-Pacific by 6.2 percent.

But the survey produced little evidence that the Olympic Games has been as significant a driver of global advertising expenditure as expected. In the 46 countries surveyed, respondents in only nine reported an increase in spending around the time of the Olympics, the company said. These were Australia, Austria, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan.

However, while the recovery had been led by economic expansion in the first quarter of 2004, economic indicators in the second quarter were slower.

Internet advertising is predicted to provide some of the strongest growth this year. The online market should expand by 15 percent in 2004, Aegis said.

[grossone] 03/9/2004 08:02

try to help maut out lads , he is seriously mentally unbalanced.

[grupo guitarlumber] 03/9/2004 08:00

LONDON (AFX) - Aegis Group PLC said its Carat unit is raising its forecasts
for global advertising growth in 2004 and 2005, with growth being lead by the US
and European markets, although growth in Asia-Pacific remains robust.
Global adspend is now expected to grow 5.7 pct in 2004, compared with the
previous forecast of 5.3 pct growth while the forecast for 2005 was raised to 5
pct growth from 4.4 pct.
European advertising expenditure is now showing solid recovery, led by good
growth in the UK, Italy and Spain, an upturn in the French advertising spend,
Aegis said in a statement.
There is also a slightly more optimistic outlook for Germany which is
predicted to return to growth in 2005.
[e-mail]
lam

[maut too] 03/9/2004 07:56

MRS Stock talk : Aegis US guidance encouraging
03-Sep-2004 07:54
Aegis raises global advertising growth
forecast to 5.7% from 5.3%.
Timing of the news is very curious
with results next week, says CAI Cheuv-
reux's Alex de Groote, and notes Aegis
is characteristicly optimistic in its
guidance.
Nonetheless, news is encouraging with
an improvement in guidance across all
regions.
Says US guidance is particularly en-
couraging as a much larger dip had been
expected in 2005. Rates at outperform.
Shares closed yesterday at 86p. (NPF)

0654 GMT Sep 03 2004

[tomkin] 31/8/2004 13:29

lol - that's an orrible chart!

[maut too] 31/8/2004 13:24

CAS Aegis Group : Holding in company
31-Aug-2004 13:22
NAME OF SHAREHOLDER HAVING A MAJOR
INTEREST
HARRIS ASSOCIATES L.P.

Number of shares acquired.
2,750,000 (0.25%)

Class of security
ORD 5P SHARES

Date of transaction
25/8/04

Date company informed
27/8/04

Total holding following this
notification
112,411,700 (10.06%)

ICV Edited News from Dow Jones
1222 GMT Aug 31 2004

[maut too] 27/8/2004 15:35

CAS Aegis Group : Holding in company
27-Aug-2004 15:34

SHAREHOLDER: AVIVA PLC
Number of shares acquired: 103,302
(0.009%)
Class of security ORD 5P SHARES
Date of transaction 26/8/04
Date company informed 27/8/04
Total holding 78,211,370 (7%)

ICV Edited News from Dow Jones
1434 GMT Aug 27 2004