LONDON (ShareCast) - Advertising agency M&C Saatchi lifted its pre-tax profits by more than 50% in 2007, helped by the acquisition of Clear Ideas and continued strong performance in its core UK market and mainland Europe.

Headline pre-tax profits jumped to £11.9m from £7.8m in 2006, while revenues climbed to £87.6m from £75.9m.

UK revenues rose to £48.3m from £44.4m and mainland Europe revenues climbed to £4.2m from £1.8m, boosted by contracts with directories group Pages Jaunes in France and Coca Cola and the Green Party in Germany.

Revenues were also boosted by the acquisition of Clear Ideas, a brand consultancy firm, in July 2007. Its revenues totalled £4.5m in the UK, £600,000 in Europe and £500,000 in the US.

Saatchi’s chief executive David Kershaw told Sharecast he expected European revenues to double again this year, adding that the company was looking to expand into central and eastern European markets.

“We have plans to increase our European presence, with Poland acting as a hub for our central and eastern European operations,” he said.

The loss of an account with Insurance Australia Group was the main reason for a decline in Asian and Australian revenues to £24.7m from £25.6m. There were positive performances from the offices in India, New Zealand and particularly Malaysia, Saatchi said, but Singapore and Thailand did not perform well.

US revenues climbed to £3.7m from £3.6m, though the company said trading had declined in the fourth quarter.

“Tougher conditions in the US, with less credit available, led to some US advertisers pulling in contracts in sectors such as retail and financial services,” Kershaw said, while pointing out that the US is minor source of revenue.

“2007 was a very successful year for the group in terms of revenue, profit and executing our strategy for growth,” Kershaw said.

“We have made a good start to the year and the outlook for the rest of the year remains in line with current expectations.”

Saatchi said its proposed full-year dividend was up 13.1% to 3.62p.

• News Channel