British advertising firm, WPP Group, has reported that pre-tax profits, excluding goodwill amortisation and other items, for the six months to the end of June were down almost 5% to £202.9m.
Like-for-like revenue, excluding recent acquisitions, was flat for the period. Revenue for the first half of the year was down over 2% at £1.91 billion.
But the world's third largest advertising company, whose clients include Ford and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, said that the market in North America had not only stabilised, but had started to show growth again.
The company said the UK market was still depressed, while the Asia-Pacific, African, and Middle Eastern markets continued to improve, despite SARS.
