- First half operating income up more than 20% with double digit growth in all divisions.
- New extended banking facilities agreed.
- Appointment of new Non-Executive Director
Trading
Operating income for the first half of 2008 is expected to be more than 20% higher than in the same period last year. All three divisions have delivered double digit growth, with Fast Track, Bell Pottinger Sans Frontieres and Bell Pottinger Middle East in particular performing well ahead of last year and well ahead of budget.
The Group has already achieved over half the full year operating profit target during the first half and margin levels have been maintained.
Our strategy of stringent cost control, our diversified business model and our expanding international operations have continued to deliver against our growth target (which is in line with the 2008 market expectation of pretax profit growth of at least 16%).
There is as yet no evidence of our performance being affected by the predicted economic downturn.
New Banking Facilities
We have renewed our banking facility with the Royal Bank of Scotland. This is a five year facility for £30 million at a slightly increased rate (1.3% over Libor compared to 1% previously).
Appointment of Non-Executive Director
The Group is today announcing the appointment to the Board of The Hon. Richard Alston as a Non-Executive Director. Richard was the Australian High Commissioner to the UK until February 2008 and prior to that he had a 15 year career on the front bench of the coalition government including nearly eight years as Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts.
He has served on the Boards of a number of Australian listed companies.
We expect to announce Interim Results on 27th August 2008.
Commenting on the above Lord Bell said:
“Our strong performance of last year has been maintained, with first half operating income more than 20% higher than last year. This strong performance, combined with our emphasis on tight cost control and a good new business pipeline leaves us well placed to meet our expectations for the full year.
We are pleased that our bank shares our confidence about the outlook for our business by agreeing to an extended facility.
I welcome Richard Alston to the Board and I am sure his experience will help our increasing international development”.
For further information please contact:
Lord Bell, Chairman, Chime Communications - 020 7861 8515
Christopher Satterthwaite, Chief Executive, Chime Communications - 020 7861 8515
Mike Davies/ Helen Tarbet, Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial - 020 7861 3232
