Chime Reveals Olympic Profit Boost
Chime Communications, the marketing services group, has revealed pre-tax profits of £25.3m, up 70% thanks to a boost from the Olympics and Paralympics.
Chime, who worked with 15 of the main sponsors of the Olympic Games, earned around £30m from London 2012 having focused on sports marketing after selling its Bell-Pottinger-branded PR agencies to Lord Bell in 2012.
The company’s sport and entertainment division, CSM, of which Lord Coe is an executive chairman, saw its income rise by 65% from the previous year to £65.9m. Chime also announced that it had signed deals to manage the branding and signage for the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2013 and the 2014 World Cup, both staged in Brazil.
Chief executive of Chime Communications, Christopher Satterthwaite, commented: ‘2012 was a year of strong performance for Chime’son-going businesses. During the period, we realigned the group as an international communications and sports marketing business, invested in our digital offering and opened new offices in Europe, the Far East and Australasia which offer good potential returns. This concentration of activity in specific sectors and expansion geographically positions us strongly for future, long-term growth.’
Satterthwaite added: ‘I know Sir Martin Sorrell talks about the quadrennial effect but really we have a biennial effect in our business. World Cups and Olympics happen every other year and the truth is that we will grow faster in even years than in odd years. Sports marketing is going to struggle to grow at the rate it did in 2012 but that being said we have a pretty busy year for sport in 2013 with the Ashes and Lions tour, and the Confederations Cup in Brazil. We are still aiming to grow the business in 2013 – we expect strong growth in advertising, health care and PR in particular.’
Analyst at Numis Securities, Paul Richards, said of Chime’s profit rise: ‘Clearly the group had a tremendous year in 2012, benefiting from the Olympics and the Paralympics, and the key thing that stands out today is the new business they have secured which was the major thing the market was looking for.’
