M&C Saatchi trades profitably so far in second half

Advertising agency M&C Saatchi said on Thursday that it had continued to trade well and profitably in the opening few weeks of its second half.

M&C Saatchi said new business remained "strong" and highlighted that since its last update, it had been appointed by the UK's Office of National Statistics to handle the National Census, to be conducted in 2021, and had also launched both the new season English Premier League and Open House, a virtual training programme aimed at accelerating the industry's ambitions to attract more diverse talent.

In terms of funding, the AIM-listed group said its balance sheet remained "strong", with total cash at £56.0m as of 20 August and a fully-drawn £36.0m revolving credit facility with NatWest.

M&C Saatchi, which originally intended to publish its most recent set of full-year results by the end of August, added that as a result of the continued disruptions to working practices caused by the Covif-19 pandemic, they will now be delayed until September.

As of 1100 BST, M&C shares were up 4.11% at 63.51p.