Chime believes there’s a sporting chance of a good second half
COMMUNICATIONS and sports marketing company Chime yesterday reported a fall in first-half pre-tax profit, as major sporting events that boosted its performance in 2014 were not repeated.
However, Chime said its performance so far this year has been good and it expects this to continue into the second half.
Chime – founded by Lord Bell and one of whose directors is Lord Sebastian Coe – agreed to a takeover by FTSE 100-listed advertising and marketing giant WPP and US private equity company Providence Equity Partners at the end of July, in a deal that values the company at £374m. The takeover is expected to complete in the fourth quarter.
For the half-year to end-June, Chime posted a pre-tax profit of £1.4m, down from £9.6m a year before, as revenue declined to £184.5m from £198.5m.
Chief executive Christopher Satterthwaite said: “Sport and entertainment was lower than the previous period 2014, which saw our involvement in the Fifa World Cup and the Winter Olympics. The second half will see a benefit from… the Rugby World Cup and Ashes Series.”