AGS Aegis Grp.

Aegis Group PLC (AGS.LN) said Thursday that it is optimistic about the outlook for the advertising industry in 2012, thanks to key sporting events and the U.S. presidential elections, as the advertising and marketing company posted a sharp rise in annual profit and revenue.

The U.K.-based company--which counts U.S. auto maker General Motors Co. (GM) as its biggest client after securing a $3 billion global deal in January--said it expects to deliver continued sector-leading organic revenue growth, which excludes acquisitions, and further improvement in adjusted operating profit, excluding acquisitions, in 2012.

Aegis booked a net profit of GBP164.1 million for the year ended Dec. 31 from GBP41.2 million a year earlier, helped by the sale of its market research unit Synovate to French group Ipsos SA (IPS.LN) for an enterprise value of GBP525 million in July.

Following the sale, Aegis is focused predominantly on buying advertising time and space through its Aegis Media business. At the time, Aegis said it would return GBP200 million of the sale proceeds to shareholders via a special dividend and use the rest for acquisitions to strengthen the remainder of the group, mainly in digital and emerging markets. It bought U.S. digital agency Roundarch in February for about $250 million.

Annual adjusted operating profit which excludes exceptional items--one of the key figures tracked by U.K. analysts--jumped 31% to GBP197 million, ahead of market expectations of GBP190 million, underpinned by strong performances from digital operations, faster-growing regions and North America.

That compares with an adjusted operating profit of GBP151.1 million in 2010.

Revenue from continuing operations rose 21% to GBP1.14 billion in 2011 from GBP941 million a year earlier.

The 2010 financial figures have been restated to show the business on a continuing basis following the sale of Synovate in July 2011.

Aegis, which counts French businessman Vincent Bollore as its biggest shareholder with a 26.45% stake, reported a final dividend of 2.01 pence a share, taking the total dividend for 2011 to 3.20 pence. The group also paid a special dividend of 15.53 pence a share in November 2011.

Aegis shares closed at 179 pence Wednesday, valuing the company at GBP2.10 billion.

-By Lilly Vitorovich, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-0-207 842 9290; lilly.vitorovich@dowjones.com

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