Scangroup half-year profits up by 40 pc

Marketing firm Scangroup posted a pretax profit of Sh265.5 million on the back of a recovering global economy that boosted advertising spend and said it would expand. The marketing and communications firm, which is part-owned by London-listed WPP Group, said on Wednesday that revenue rose to Sh816.51 million in the first half from Sh713.86 million a year ago. "There was a recovery from the general slowdown of advertising expenditure experienced in 2009 as reflected in our billings which grew by 21 per cent," Scangroup said. Earnings per share for Scangroup, which operates in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, rose to Sh0.90 from Sh0.66 last year. —Reuters